Electronic surveillance and collection of personal data are "pervasive" in British society and threaten to undermine democracy, peers have warned. The proliferation of CCTV cameras and the growth of the DNA database were two examples of threats to privacy, the Lords constitution committee said.
Those subject to unlawful surveillance should be compensated while the policy of DNA retention should be rethought. The government said CCTV and DNA were "essential crime fighting tools".
'Orwellian'
But surveillance and data collection must be proportionate, it added.
Civil liberties campaigners have warned about the risks of a "surveillance society" in which the state acquires ever-greater powers to track people's movements and retain personal data.
Controversial government plans for a database to store details of people's phone calls and e-mails were put on hold late last year after they were branded "Orwellian".
Read more at - 'Warning over 'surveillance state''
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