cctv camera microphones to be axed

but not literally this time...

from telegraph: Hidden microphones mounted on CCTV cameras which can eavesdrop on private conversations in the street are set to be outlawed, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, believes that the cameras are a serious breach of civil liberties.

Britain has 4.5million CCTV cameras which capture the average person around 300 times a day.

This week Mr Thomas will launch a new code of practice and declare that no organisation should be able to monitor or store private conversations, claiming that such activities are "highly intrusive".