From the newspaper where I live.

"Cameras delayed by privacy assessment

By Marilyn Gray

Plans to bring security cameras to the Valley Shopping District have been held up by the Alberta Privacy Commission, which told the Town it should complete a privacy impact assessment before putting the cameras in place.

The cameras were expected to be in place by August of this year, but the processes that are expected to be completed by the Alberta Information and Privacy Commission were not factored into the original estimate of how long it would take to complete the project.

While the assessment is not a mandatory action before putting up the cameras, the Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner's officer recommends it as due diligence to ensure that proper regulations will be followed when the surveillance is in place.

"The questions they're asking are really, is this the best thing for the Town?" said Mike Schwirtz, infrastructure services director for the Town of Hinton. "If we don't do this privacy impact assessment process we might get into trouble."

"There are so many intracacies to this, it's good to do [the assessment]," said Schwirtz.

Questions being asked by the commission in the assessment will include who gets to view the tapes from the cameras and how long they will be held before being destroyed.

"It's a very good idea that they do so," said Wayne Wood, director of communications for Commissioner Frank Work, adding that it will ensure that municipal officials understand the regulations surrounding the cameras and help determine whether this is the right course of action for the Town.

"However, the commissioner is not a fan of video surveillance," said Wood.

"His view is that all it does is disperse crime."

Wood pointed to experiments with video surveillance in the City of Edmonton on Jasper Ave. as an example, saying that when cameras were put up bar fights and drug deals only moved to the alleys instead of the sidewalk. He also pointed out that when crime was caught on camera, the resolution was so grainy at night that arrests were rarely made as a result of the surveillance."