Manama: Kuwait may enact a law to regulate the use of surveillance cameras throughout the country to boost the fight against crime and bolster safety levels if a proposal from the interior ministry goes ahead.
“The preventive measures will be an effective deterrent in reducing the incidence of crime and will speed up identification of the perpetrators,” the interior minister, Shaikh Mohammad Al Khalid, said as he presented the motion by the ministry to enact the law. “They will also preserve the safety of those who go to commercial and residential complexes and to the central markets and will help in the fight against crime wherever it may occur,” he said at the weekly cabinet session on Monday.
Shaikh Mohammad, also his country’s deputy prime minister, said that the interior ministry’s draft law would also regulate the use and installation of security surveillance cameras in all establishments and roads.
“This law guarantees privacy and confidentiality and will not deviate from the regulations and approaches adopted by the developed countries that have preceded us in this area,” Shaikh Mohammad said. “We look forward to your support to the plan that aims to reinforce the security and stability of Kuwait,” he said.
Last month, a member of the Saudi Shura (Consultative) Council pushed for installing security cameras
Moflih Al Rasheedi said that the cameras would be a measure to protect citizens and residents and that private security and guard companies could be commissioned to implement and oversee the security service using digital electronic technology systems.
“The service will be based on digital electronic technology systems linked to the emergency centres under the ministry of interior,” he said. “The whole purpose is to protect the citizens and the residents.”
However, the Shura Council rejected the proposal amid concerns by some members that the camera recordings could be a violation of people’s privacy and could find their way to social networks.
Council members said surveillance cameras should instead be installed in schools, official buildings and public facilities.
Social network users dismissed the proposal, saying it would deprive them of the only place where they could enjoy some privacy and suggested placing cameras in public areas.
