Critics claim that proposed CCTV cameras in all alcohol shops will damage civil liberties.

A parliamentary commission is working on a draft bill which aims to reduce the consumption of alcohol among teenagers.

“Ninety percent of teenagers under 15 have tried alcohol and 70 percent claim they did not have any problems buying it,” says Krzysztof Brzozka from the State Agency for Solving Alcohol Problems, quoted in Gazeta Wyborcza.

The government wants CCTV cameras to be installed in every shop that sells alcohol. The recordings would come with sound and colour, making it easy to recognize a person as well as establish what alcoholic beverage they bought and in what quantity.

Krzysztof Brzozka hopes cameras in shops are just the first step. Later they will be placed in restaurants and clubs as well.

For some politicians, however, the move smacks of Big Brother. “The state is trying to curb civil liberties, which is absolutely unacceptable,” says Janusz Palikot from Civic Platform.

Psychologist Jacek Santorski calls the draft bill’ Big Brother’s policy’. “Short films of customers buying alcohol will get on the internet and soon we will have to monitor those who monitor cameras, which monitor customers,” he says.

According to the General Data Protection Supervisor, MPs should first check if the draft bill is constitutional. 

CCTV cameras are expensive, costing about 10,000 zlotys a piece. “We are strongly against the draft bill. It will be a burden for shop owners,” says Piotr Jaworski from the National Economic Chamber. Politicians on the committee want regional authorities to subsidize CCTV cameras. (mg/pg)