WHAT THE LAW SAYS WE CAN DO

摘要

Three issues appear to have loomed largest in Buses readers' minds in the past 12 months, if the letters received by the Editor are any guide. These have been the replacement of the Routemaster, the variable image presented by FirstGroup vehicles and the risk to national security and personal privacy presented by bus photographers. The latter debate was kicked off in June when Steven Bousfield wrote of being moved on by a heritage official (whatever that might be) for taking notes and photographs in London's Parliament Square. That he was told to move only a matter of feet just emphasised the absurdity of the situation; do potential terrorists have acute myopia? His experience generated a flurry of correspondence from other readers citing their own experiences from which it became clear that some authorities are justifying their actions by reference to the Data Protection Act (DPA). The most sweeping application of this approach came from South Yorkshire PTE in August when it announced that photography was to be banned at all of its premises in order to comply with the DPA.