Xinhua
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 

Beijing's political advisors have called into question the legitimacy of the capital's 263,000 surveillance cameras.

"The surveillance cameras are based on digital techniques, and the pictures or videos can easily be doctored. Therefore, they should not be used as lawful evidence," said Lu Deshan, a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's political advisory body.

Beijing's cameras are mainly used to monitor the traffic flow on major expressways but are also in operation in back alleys, banks and markets, and even some campus and hospital corridors.

Only 15,000 cameras, 5.7 percent of the city's total, are installed by the government, according to the Beijing's legal affairs office.

Ekber Miji, another member of the advisory body, said China should draw up a law on the installment and usage of surveillance cameras.

According to the Beijing's legal affairs office, Beijing will implement a regulation on the management of surveillance cameras on April 1.

The regulation prescribes that the cameras can not infringe upon the people's privacy and pictures and videos captured by cameras should be stored in a secure place. It also said all cameras must be conspicuous in public places.

Only Chongqing Municipality in southwest China has similar regulations restricting the use of security camera images. There are no national laws governing the surveillance system.