Hong Kong primary school pledges to remove unused CCTV cameras in classrooms after privacy row
- Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten says the cameras are ‘inbuilt facilities’ of the school after a redevelopment project in 2009
- CCTV has been installed for 12 years but has ‘never been and cannot be used’
A Hong Kong primary school at the centre of a privacy row has pledged to remove all surveillance cameras in classrooms although they have never been in operation, after controversy erupted over the installation of the devices without the knowledge of pupils or parents.
Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten stressed that the CCTV cameras were “inbuilt facilities” on campus and had already been fitted in classrooms after a redevelopment project in 2009.
Good Hope, in Wong Tai Sin, and Pooi To Primary School in Kowloon City – both elite private schools – became embroiled in controversy over a breach of privacy after a media report last week that they had installed CCTV cameras in their classrooms without letting parents know.
The cameras in Good Hope’s classrooms had reportedly been installed for 12 years, while Pooi To had them for four years.
In a notice dated Sunday and posted on its website, Good Hope confirmed that CCTV cameras were installed in its classrooms but emphasised that they were not in use. The cameras were “already there” when Good Hope took over the school building in 2009, the notice said.
The school admitted it had initially thought the devices might be useful for teaching and learning purposes, but “the consideration of using the cameras was eventually dropped and not a single image was taken”.
