Paw patrol: Council sets up CCTV camera to spy on dogs and owners at park

2 weeks ago 3

An inner-city council is using a CCTV camera in a park to ensure residents comply with restrictions on dogs.

At CCTV camera was installed by the City of Port Phillip two weeks ago on a pole at Hewison Reserve, a small park in Balaclava with an open grassed area and a fenced-off playground.

Belinda Kelly with her grandson Elton and his dog Albert at Hewison Reserve in Balaclava, where Port Phillip Council has installed “dog watch” CCTV.

A sign underneath the camera states: “Dog watch: Roving CCTV is currently operating in this area to monitor whether local dog restrictions are being followed.”

Signs around the reserve note that dogs are required to be kept on leads throughout the park.

The City of Port Phillip failed to respond to questions from The Age as to whether the camera was permanently recording, whether it was recording videos or stills, where the information was sent to, how long it was stored for and who was monitoring it.

The council also failed to respond to questions about how much the cameras cost, how many it had installed, what it was using the CCTV to look for, whether artificial intelligence was being used and whether this was an appropriate and proportional use of CCTV technology.

The City of Port Phillip’s code of conduct for the use of CCTV is focused on fighting crime rather than walking dogs.

“The primary intention for CCTV systems is to support the role of Victoria Police to discourage and detect unlawful behaviour in public places,” it states.

Belinda Kelly regularly takes her grandson Elton and his dog Albert to Hewison Reserve and said she did not think the CCTV camera was warranted.

“It’s a bit of a nanny approach, isn’t it?” she said. “We come to this park all the time, sometimes twice a day, and almost every person brings their dog, the dogs are fine.”

The “Dog Watch” camera at Hewison Reserve.

Another resident walking their dogs in Hewison Reserve, who did not want to be identified, said there was a reason people let their dogs off lead in the park and that was because there was a need for an off-lead park in the area.

“I don’t think there was any consultation [about the camera], as far as I know,” she said. “They’re obviously not just videoing dogs, they are clearly videoing people.”

The fine for having a loose dog in an on-lead area is $204 in Port Phillip.

Dr Suelette Dreyfus, a lecturer in the school of computing and information systems at The University of Melbourne, said this was the first time she had seen CCTV being used to police the behaviour of dog owners.

Hewison Reserve includes a fenced off playground area which dogs are not allowed within five metres of.

“Councils have rules about dogs on leads for some good reasons,” she said. “For example, someone with a toddler might be nervous about an unknown dog biting them, so that’s a good reason, but at the same time, we need to balance that with privacy.”

Dreyfus said if councils were going to use CCTV in a public spot like a park, there had to be full transparency with the public about it being done, and full transparency about the purpose of the data collection and that the data would not be repurposed.

“That’s one of the most important things with privacy, is that you know when the data is being collected and that your data will not be repurposed without your permission,” she said.

Dreyfus said it was important to know whether the vision was going to the council or being handed over to Victoria Police.

She said if facial recognition was being used for data matching this should also be communicated to the public.

“People’s faces, although they are public, should also have a measure of privacy, and it’s a strange paradox, but it’s true,” she said. “Unlike a PIN number for your ATM card, you can’t change your face and so how an image of your face is going to be used matters for your privacy.”