Are traffic cameras an invasion of privacy Assignment

Are traffic cameras an invasion of privacy - Assignment Example Before they can drive they are required to have a driving license and by acquiring this document they are abiding by the traffic rules which state that an individual will not drive past a red light. The US circuit court of appeal ruled in a case in 2009 that ‘no one has a fundamental right to run a red light or avoid being seen by a camera on a public street’ (Parveen Idris v. City of Chicago Illinois, 2009). In the event that a driver does this the camera is part of the traffic surveillance system and thus is programmed to capture the image of the offender. The driver will have broken traffic rules. According to the Insurance Institute for highway safety driving is regulated by law and the cameras only capture the people on the wrong side of the traffic rules. They capture the license plate of the vehicle or in other cases as permitted by the law they may be allowed to capture the image of the driver (IIHS, 2011). The law also states that it will be considered an intrusion of privacy if any individual is captured without them knowing (BBB Inc, 2010). In this instance the drivers are always aware that there are cameras installed on highway intersections and in case they cross under a red light they will be captured by the camera. Because they understand the existence of the camera and why it is placed there this cannot be considered an intrusion of privacy unless the camera has been placed there to monitor their activities in the vehicle which is not the case. In many public places there are cameras placed for security purposes, they record people and activities but this is done when the people are aware they are being recorded. In Canada for example the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents act states that unless in very extreme circumstances such surveillance is considered legal when the people who are being monitored are aware that