Privacy fears over 'bugged' bins in South Bucks (From Bucks Free Press)

Privacy fears over 'bugged' bins in South Bucks

9:00am Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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PRIVACY campaigners have slammed South Bucks District Council for “quietly” buying thousands of rubbish bins with 'pay-as-you-throw' microchips installed.

Bosses say the 4,500 'microchipped' wheelie bins have not been monitored since they were bought in 2006 and there are currently no plans to start measuring what residents throw out.

The council is one of 68 local authorities in the UK to install the chips, in what critics say is the first step towards councils charging households for the amount of rubbish they throw out.

Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch, said: “South Bucks may not have activated these microchips yet, but residents should be in no doubt that they would be prepared to turn them on if the political and public climate became more amenable to 'pay-as-you-throw' charging.

“The British public doesn’t want this technology, these fines or this intrusion. If local authorities have no intention to monitor our waste then they should end the surreptitious installation of these bin microchips.”

The council said the wheelie bins, which are only used in some areas, were paid for by a Government grant and it does not have the technology to read the chips.

Cllr Bill Lidgate, cabinet member for the environment, said: “We were getting a new stock of bins [in 2006] and the suppliers said 'do you want them with microchips in?'

“They were free, so we thought we might as well in case we ever did want to go down that road.”

He stressed there are no plans to start monitoring the chips.

The news has raised some Orwellian concerns among South Bucks residents.

Peter Hodson, of South Drive in Beaconsfield, does not use a wheelie bin and said: “1984 is looming – it would be outrageous to start charging some people more.”

And Graham Smith, a former district councillor, said: “I don't see the need for this. The environmental issue has not been proven and this is another encroachment on civil liberties.”

No other council in Buckinghamshire has installed the chips, while Bristol City Council is the only local authority in Britain to agree to a pilot 'pay-as-you-throw' scheme.

The figures were obtained by Big Brother Watch. Read its report by clicking the link below.

Do you have a South Bucks District Council wheelie bin? What do you think?