In my previous employment with the Australian Goverment we had a fairly contensious issue raised, regarding a local City Council's desire to install cctv camera throughout the City. The stated intention was to reduce crime in the City but a powerful lobby group "Council of Civil Liberty's" was very strongly opposed on the basis of privacy. The Council eventually won out, on the proviso that the video was to be used purely for the protection of council property and safety of council employees. (There was a seperate stipulation that the video was not to be viewed by the Police, unless the Police had a Warrant to view/sieze specific footage in relation to a crime) The City in question happened to be our State Capitol.
I'm interested to know if this scenario applies elesewhere?