LHC directs PSCA to hold an inquiry of the picture and video leak scandal

The Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA) has been ordered by the Lahore High Court (LHC) to conduct an investigation into incidences of videos and photos of public recorded by its cameras being leaked and becoming viral on social media. 

Salman Sufi, a social activist who works for women’s empowerment and gender changes, submitted a public interest case with Justice Jawad Hassan, who gave the order. 

The suit was filed in 2019 in response to several incidences of women being blackmailed by releasing CCTV footage or covertly filmed videos. 

The petitioner’s attorney, Advocate Ans Mashood, argued that there had been several occasions where the owners/staff of internet cafés or theatres had covertly captured videos or images of their clients’ actions using night vision cameras or CCTV cameras. He said that the offenders had published the movies to websites or released them to the general public through CDs, resulting in the deaths of many individuals, but that the perpetrators had yet to be found and that no serious action had been taken against them. 

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Mr. Sufi claims in his appeal that the right to privacy, particularly as it relates to personal information, is essentially rooted and recognized in Pakistani law. He requests the court to declare that the installation and operation of CCTV cameras in any public place without sufficient notice or indication of the surveillance is unlawful and constitutes an invasion of privacy.