An eye on business

FEW LAW-ABIDING citizens were surprised to learn that London's congestion charge cameras will be used to track terror suspects. However they may need a pinch of salt to swallow assurances that police will seek permission from Transport for London each time they use the cameras and won't use them to solve other crimes.
Britons are monitored by some five million CCTV cameras — as many as exist worldwide outside the UK and US. Local authorities are adding sound capabilities to security cameras not only to listen but also to allow watching officials to reprimand offenders and shame them into acting more responsibly. Trials are underway of 'spy in the sky' airborne cameras and other 'intelligent' cameras designed to predict when a person may be about to commit a crime.
Tax practitioners are up in arms at the latest demands from HMRC for wider powers to enter premises and...