s

[Roland Perry]

In article 
<CAEWR3ktm5++6NVMXvpXktejhAwC=QB=fc8G9eDKSmB=GTr6JFw at mail.gmail.com>, 
Francis Davey <fjmd1a at gmail.com> writes

>As Roland says, local authorities have attracted some negative press
>attention for (mis)-using RIPA

I'm not sure they are mis-using it. Their activities have come to light 
mainly as a result of applying RIPA and hence getting paperwork done for 
surveillance activities that they would previously have conducted in a 
completely unregulated fashion [1].

Some might argue that they've miscalculated the proportionality tests, 
but at least the regime has brought that issue out into the open. It's a 
bit unrealistic to expect there never to be a few outliers where 
opinions would differ.

(As a school governor I'm very conscious of the lengths some parent go 
to, when attempting to subvert catchment areas. Our school has recently 
changed the admissions policy to say you must have lived in the 
catchment area a whole year before applying, and not just be renting a 
house locally for six months. But I digress.)

[1] Next time I get a council tax rebate snooper peering through my 
windows to see if the house really is unfurnished, I might ask to see 
their RIPA paperwork.
-- 
Roland Perry