Redeploying CCTV after the Olympics

There are a few conflicting reports regarding the permanence and use of CCTV cameras during and after the Winter 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. CBC recently reported that "security staff and politicians have stressed that any cameras put up for the Games will be temporary".

According to a March 26, 2009 report by Kevin Wallinger, Director of the Office of Emergency Management for the City of Vancouver, funds have been earmarked for increased CCTV operations in Vancouver: over $2.6 million for temporary CCTV camera deployment during the games. The report does make a nod to the Privacy and Information Commissioner's recommendations on CCTV surveillance. They also indicate that a "public engagement process" will take place, in particular with the BCCLA and the Vancouver Public Space Network; however, the extent to which this is broadly public, or if their concerns will impact these decisions remains to be seen.

The Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Courier suggest the cameras will remain when the games conclude. Instead of being temporary, the BC government will provide $40,000 for the operation of a CCTV control centre (near the PNE) and 10 portable surveillance cameras, to be "redeployed" around the city of Vancouver.

I am a little dismayed, but not surprised, that surveillance technologies used during the 2010 Olympics will simply be incorporated into the existing city structure without extensive review, in particular because the conditions under which they will be used are completely unspecified.