Maybe not the one people have fought for over the centuries…
A council yesterday admitted using laws designed to track serious criminals to spy on a family for nearly three weeks to find out if they were lying about living in a school catchment area.
The council used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to draw up a list of the mother’s movements from February 13 to March 3, showing the times and exact routes of school runs with her children. She told the Bournemouth Echo that the record, shown to her by a school admissions manager, included detailed notes such as “female and three children enter target vehicle and drive off” and “curtains open and all lights on in premises”.
