The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which oversees data protection rules, turned down a complaint by a privacy group over the activities of a website which lets individuals watch over companies’ CCTV footage.
Anticipating that the decision would not be well received, officials, in a series of emails, then suggested releasing the information on “a busy news day” or “bury” it among other press releases.
The attempt to soften the impact of the report was last night likened to the former Government adviser Jo Moore who infamously suggested 9/11 was a “very good day” to bury bad news.
Privacy International, who made the original complaint and obtained the emails, said the incident was “sinister and disturbing” and accused the watchdog of no longer being “fit for purpose”.
The row centred on a complaint around Internet Eyes, a website which allowed the public to effectively be armchair sleuths by monitoring commercial CCTV cameras online.