Security cameras boost safety

Abu Dhabi: Thousands of security cameras around the capital monitor everything from shopping malls to intersections. Most of these cameras go unnoticed on a day-to-day basis.

The Abu Dhabi Municipality has installed 156 cameras and more than 82 of them watch the traffic at intersections. These cameras are linked to the control room of the police providing live feed from various parts of the city.

This does not include the cameras installed by businesses in malls, hotels, schools, banks, ATMs, grocery stores, and even parking lots. Intentionally high above eye level or behind tinted glass.

"As the city develops and grows it is natural that traffic demand and patterns grow at a similar pace. To maintain efficient, safe and economic management of the transportation network throughout the city, CCTV [Closed Circuit Television] cameras are essential in providing first hand accurate information about traffic conditions," Ali Saleh Bin Braik, Head of Traffic Control Centre at Abu Dhabi Municipality.

The Traffic Control Centre was set up in 1998 and has been working hand in hand with the Abu Dhabi Police since 2005. Plans are underway to deploy cameras at the rest of the intersections, Bin Braik said.

Asked how his department ensures that the recordings do not go into the wrong hands, Bin Braik said an efficient system has been put in place to ensure this. "Recordings are done on as needed basis only and for traffic analysis and studies. Besides, it is done only at specific locations as authorised by the engineer-in-charge."

The technology used in these recording systems is multi-level password-protected wherein only authorised personnel can log in and it is housed in access-controlled area. Further, the recording system is not connected to any public network and copying to any media devices is not possible as a special format is used.

The Emirates Palace hotel has more than 600 cameras that follow the same security patterns, said Naser Al Sherief, director of security. "No one would deny the importance of surveillance cameras today. From a security standpoint, it's very strategic. It reduces the number of guards and is much more efficient," Al Sherief said.

Other venues, like Abu Dhabi Mall, has more than 500 surveillance cameras, covering just about every square foot of the property.

Regulation

The numbers of security cameras around the capital are alarming, and to this day there is no regulation or legal framework to guide this common practice. But despite all of this, some experts and citizens are praising this effort as a measure to increase safety.

Tarik Al Serkal, an Abu Dhabi lawyer who specialises in privacy laws, said: "Aside from existing privacy laws, there are no laws to regulate surveillance cameras in malls, hotels and so on."

The neutrality of the law on this issue leaves the details of surveillance to each individual company. "Aside from installing cameras in what we call a limited time of privacy in a public place, such as bathrooms and change rooms, there is no limit to the amount of cameras or surveillance units," Al Serkal said.

For a man who has four surveillance cameras around his own home, Al Serkal added that "the reasons why cameras exist in public places is for security.... But the real reason for such an increase in all of these cameras is that we are in a panic. Today we don't feel safe. And surveillance units give us some comfort".

For Jay Hamoud, who was robbed from a UK bank with no cameras, surveillance cameras are a must.

"You have to weigh the benefits and the downsides of surveillance cameras and the benefits far outweigh the risk of misuse. I think what should be done is that the government needs to regulate what happens with the footage just to prevent misuse but surveillance cameras on the whole are essential to our security," Hamoud said.

From a security standpoint, [a camera] is very strategic. It reduces the number of guards and is much more efficient."