Powerful surveillance cameras read texts!

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - May 3, 2012 - Surveillance cameras are now so powerful that they were able to zoom in on individual spectators at the Rugby World Cup and read their text messages.

Details of thug cop monitoring used for the first time during the tournament were discussed at a privacy forum in Wellington yesterday, at which it was revealed that the average person is digitally recorded about a dozen times a day - and even more if he/she uses email and social media frequently.

Camera operators who were scanning the crowd for unruly behavior or suspicious packages chose to zoom in on a person who was texting.

"He was actually texting about the poor quality of the game of rugby. But it did occur to me that there was an issue there - had he been texting something that was of some consequence to us; there may have been privacy issues," said the unnamed person.

He confirmed later that the level of monitoring used during the World Cup would continue for all big test matches.

Soon, technology will exist that can pick up on raised voices, and sniffing devices will be able to detect drug residue, Stirling University lecturer William Webster told the forum.

Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said some overseas developments were amazing and she imagined there would be concern if and when that technology was implemented in New Zealand.

Shroff said that, although reading someone's text messages in public could cause concern, the legitimacy of the action depended on how the information was used.

Former detective Trevor Morley said the average person had nothing to fear if he/she was not doing anything illegal.

"The only people who need to be concerned about these advances in technology that the (thug cops) are using are the people who are abusing it, or the people who are acting in an anti-social manner," said Morley.

"The law can do only so much. There are many, many great uses for the technology and we just have to make sure we balance those so it doesn't become ridiculously intrusive into our lives," he added.