Topless Princess Kate pics spur privacy issues; how about 825 cameras in bathrooms, changing rooms at UK schools?

"Grant self and others Dignity and Decency. High technology is not invented to destroy privacy or nobility, nor is Golden Rule disposable, ever." - Editor

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Topless Princess Kate Pics Spur Privacy Issues
A French magazine has published photos of the Duchess of Cambridge topless, causing a new scandal for the royal family. The Duchess and her husband Prince William were on private property at a French resort when they were photographed presumably off-limits to the public. But in today's world of hidden cameras and powerful zoom lenses, there's really no place for a celebrity to hide from determined paparazzi.

Report raises privacy concerns about the use of cameras in bathrooms, changing rooms at UK schools - 'a shock to many parents' 825 cameras reportedly located in the toilets or changing rooms of 207 schools across England, Scotland and Wales

RAINFORD High has been named on a list of school's using CCTV cameras in toilets and changing rooms. The school has SEVEN cameras installed in either toilets or changing rooms. It is one of only 207 schools across the country and the only school in St Helens to engage in the controversial practice.

The school's decision to monitor students in areas where they may previously have expected a degree of privacy only emerged publicly following a Freedom of Index request to more than 2,000 schools nationwide by Big Brother Watch. Its report showed a total of 825 cameras were located in the toilets or changing rooms of 207 schools across England, Scotland and Wales.

Almost one in 10 of the schools which use CCTV said cameras were positioned in such places, while 54 have more than one camera for every 15 students.

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: "This research raises serious questions about the privacy of schoolchildren across Britain, with some schools having one camera for every five pupils and hundreds of schools using cameras in toilets and changing rooms. The full extent of school surveillance is far higher than we had expected and will come as a shock to many parents.

CCTV cameras being used in school changing rooms and toilets - 'How many parents have given headteachers permission to film their child going to the toilet or having a shower? What happens to the film afterwards?' Responses from 2,107 secondary schools and academies showed they used 47,806 cameras, including 26,887 inside school buildings. With 1.8m pupils being taught in these schools, there was an average of one camera for every 38 children. In all, 90% of schools had CCTV cameras, with an average of 24 cameras in each of the 1,537 secondary schools that responded and 30 cameras in each of the 570 academies. Big Brother Watch estimates the number of CCTV cameras in secondary schools and academies across England, Wales and Scotland was now 106,710.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "We have already acted to make it unlawful for schools to use biometric data like fingerprints without parents' permission.

Sharon Holder, the GMB's national officer, said the trade union was appalled at the findings: "Placing CCTV in school bathrooms poses a worrying development in school policy and raises a number of questions. 'How many parents have given headteachers permission to film their child going to the toilet or having a shower? What happens to the film afterwards?'

Schools in England and Wales have 100,000 cameras to spy on pupils trained on playgrounds, classrooms and even toilets - 'Schools need to come clean about why they are using these cameras and what is happening to the footage' School pupils are being watched by an astonishing 100,000 spy cameras, a report revealed yesterday, Sept. 10, 2012. CCTV surveillance has been set up in playgrounds, classrooms and even toilets and changing rooms. Some schools have 1 camera for every 5 children in the name of controlling violence, vandalism and theft. It found there are 106,710 spy cameras in secondary schools and academies across England and Wales – a quarter of the total used to monitor all of London's streets.

The privacy distinction between Kate’s topless shots and Harry's nude pics
Some telling privacy distinctions emerged as a French tabloid published photos of Kate Middleton sunbathing topless on a guesthouse terrace in Provence.

No major British publication published the photos Friday – not even The Sun, which last month splashed photos of a nude Prince Harry partying in a Las Vegas hotel room on its front page.

It seems Harry was fair game because he was prancing naked among the (cell phone-wielding) strangers he’d invited to his hotel room. Meanwhile, the images of Kate’s sunbathing ritual on a “remote” property – including Will applying sunscreen to her thonged-rear end – have been widely slammed as an invasion of privacy.

Naked Harry unexposed in UK papers
Former News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis said he would have published the photos before the inquiry into media ethics began.
He said: "The situation is fun, it's a good, classic newspaper situation. The problem is, in this post-Leveson era where newspapers are simply terrified of their own shadow, they daren't do things that most of the country, if they saw it in the newspaper, would think 'that's a bit of a laugh'."
Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie said it was a "fantastic" story.
He said: "It doesn't affect Prince Harry at all, because in a way he is a 28-year-old Army officer, he is single and he is cavorting with ladies who wish to be cavorted with.
"So where are the issues? There are no issues except one: Leveson."
Although deeply embarrassing for the royal, who is due to embark on the next phase of his military career, there are unlikely to be any serious consequences for the prince. If any action is taken against Harry, an Army officer and Apache helicopter pilot, it would be down to his commanding officer to make the decision. Two US service members killed at Afghan camp where Prince Harry is based Friday night in a complex attack on the U.S. Marine half of Camp Bastion/Leatherneck - the same camp where Britain's Prince Harry is based - U.S. and NATO officials told NBC News. NATO officials said that Prince Harry was on the base at the time.

Sep 15, 2012 - Italian, Irish publications join Middleton photo fray
Here we go again.
Just one day after a French magazine set the media world ablaze by running photos of a topless Kate Middleton on its cover, Italian gossip magazine Chi says it will follow suit.
According to the Associated Press, Chi plans to publish a 26-page spread showing the young royal sunbathing and frolicking topless with her husband Prince William when the two spent time earlier this month vacationing at a private French residence.
"I don't see anything morbid or damaging in them," Chi editor Alfonso Signorini tells the AP. "Chi pays attention to respecting people's dignity. I don't think they hurt Kate's image."
Signorini also says he's not worried about the legal repercussions of publishing the images since they're in the public domain now that Closer has published them.

Sunday 16 September 2012 - Sir John Major, Prince William's guardian after Diana died, says photographers who took 'distasteful' pictures crossed boundary are "peeping toms who should be prosecuted".

September 17, 2012 - Snapped from afar, topless shots spanned 1km
The photos are understood to have been taken using powerful, long lenses by photographers standing on a public road or footpath at a distance estimated at between 800 metres and 1.3 kilometres away.
Using a 600 millimetre lens and a 2x extender on a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV camera, Stephens was able to zoom in on a balcony near the top of the tower and capture its details in remarkable detail.
Together, the camera equipment costs about $24,000 and weighs a little less than seven kilograms.

*update*
18 September 2012 - Kate topless photos: French injunction against magazine: A court has banned a French magazine from re-publishing or distributing photographs in France of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless.

A court in Paris ruled the publishers of Closer must hand over the original photographs within 24 hours or face a daily fine of 10,000 euros (£8,000). The royal couple's injunction against publishers Mondadori was granted after the photos were published on Friday.

September 28, 2012 - At first, when the topless pics came out, I wondered why the heck Kate would take off her top when there's the risk of being photographed ... then I saw the distance from which the photos were snapped and realized, quickly, that it wasn't her fault in the least. It's no wonder she got naked -- she and Will were the only ones around for miles.
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Photos courtesy keral.com and Sony