Professional lip reading services

The 121 Captions team deliver professional lip reading services online and onsite around the UK. Simply contact us and explain your requirements, whether they be for the courts, police, private investigators, or the media, and our lip readers will meet your deadline.

Lip reading : Sir John Soane’s Museum

November 7, 2013/0 Comments/in Professional lip reading services /by Tina Lannin

Lip reading : Walks & talks for lip readers

Sir John Soane’s Museum, 3 December 2013 & Programme 2014

We are pleased to attach our programme for next year and hope there will be something for everyone and even a few places you have not visited before! We have done our best to spread the walks for lip readers across a wide area of London and, as usual, the January and November walks will spend less time walking and more time inside an interesting museum or gallery in some way linked to the area of the walk.

We are sure you will find the January walk of particular interest in this important centenary year of the beginning of the First World War. Later in the year we would like to join up with the NADP Rawson Bequest programme, and maybe also the Sir John Soane’s Museum, in a visit to Bentley Priory, near Stanmore, the WW2 home of Bomber Command and an important building designed by Sir John Soane. More news on that later, but in the meantime do ‘google’ Bentley Priory and get an idea of what it looks like and what is happening there next year.

As this is a programme for the whole year and Transport for London only issue a 6 month notice of weekend engineering work we may well have to change the meeting point for some of the later walks, but we will keep you informed. If you know, find out about or read something you want to pass on please don’t hesitate to let us know, whether it is transport hitches or interesting information in general, we are always pleased to have it. Several of our walks appear on the programme as a result of your feedback or requests, so please keep them coming!

We are also attaching a flier from the Sir John Soane’s Museum for their last lipspeaker supported evening of 2013. This will be a very interesting talk by Martin Glover about architectural production. As there are a very limited number of places available for lip readers, please do book your place with Kenn Taylor as soon as possible – see Oct-Dec Events for D/deaf and hard of hearing for details.

We are looking forward to seeing many lip readers as possible at Canary Wharf next Sunday for our last walk of 2013 and wish everyone a very happy holiday season and best wishes for a busy and interesting 2014!

Lip reading talks: Canary Wharf

October 20, 2013/0 Comments/in Professional lip reading services /by Tina Lannin

Lip reading Talks: Canary Wharf and the Museum of London at Docklands, Sunday 17 November 2013

We round off another year of lip reading Walks&Talks with Diane Burstein offering a combined walk showing a little of Canary Wharf and then taking us inside the Museum of London’s Dockland site with lipspeaking support.

We meet outside Canary Wharf tube station, by the clocks, and explore some of this magnificent modern development before heading over to the museum of Docklands.

Before going inside we will admire some of the old sugar warehouses and discover why the area was once known as “Blood Alley”. In the museum itself Diane will give you an introduction to some of the fascinating exhibits relating to the story of the Thames and the Docks.

Lipreaders might like to stay on after the group visit to explore more of the history of the area at your leisure. There are cafes in the museum and it is not far to walk back to the station, which also has places for food and drink.

We expect to have the programme for 2014 ready for this walk and hope you will find several of them interesting enough to earmark in your new diaries!

To find out more, download the BOOKING FORM

When you lip read surveillance CCTV

August 13, 2013/1 Comment/in Professional lip reading services /by Tina Lannin

If you lip read people, this is good to know!

The CCTV Surveillance Camera Code of Practice officially came into force today.

As the new code comes into force, we answer some frequently asked questions about who will be impacted and what you’ll have to do.

To whom does the Surveillance Code of Practice apply?

The code applies only to public bodies such as the police and local governments in England and Wales. Private companies are not bound by it, but they are encouraged to use it as guidance in operating their own systems.

Why has the code been introduced?

The code was introduced under the 2012 Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The act included a provision for a new surveillance camera commissioner, who would help draft the code, review its operation, and provide advice.

The government wanted to address concerns over the potential for misuse of video surveillance in public places. It also wanted to help engender a culture of “surveillance by consent.”

Who is the surveillance camera commissioner?

The first commissioner is Andrew Rennison, who is also the government’s forensic science regulator. Before that, he was the interim CCTV regulator.

Who will enforce the code?

The surveillance camera commissioner has no enforcement or inspection powers, so public bodies will be expected to be self-regulating. Rennison told an IFSEC International audience that he was not worried self-regulation would fail.

The ministers wanted a light-handed regulation. Those that have regard to the Code will have no liability. However, I can comment that anyone who is under this code are people of integrity, so I am not worried about it.

What punishment could breachers face?

The law does not contain any criminal consequences for authorities that fail to comply with the code. A failure to comply will not make a person or authority liable to either criminal or civil proceedings. However, the code is admissible in evidence, so it could be used to show that video surveillance images had been obtained in breach of the code.

How does the code define a surveillance camera system?

The surveillance camera commissioner has kept the definition of a surveillance camera system deliberately vague, because changes in technology could leave any definition outdated. In the response to consultations, the Home Office wrote:

Technological advance will continue, and is expected to move rapidly. As a consequence, there is the risk that new technology, which may have a greater potential to interfere with the right to privacy, could fall outside the scope of a detailed definition.

However, in general the code refers to any camera system that overtly monitors a public place, including body-worn cameras and automatic number place recognition systems. It does not cover covert surveillance systems. If there is any doubt as to whether a specific technology is within the scope of the code, people are encouraged to consult the surveillance camera commissioner for advice.

Should I be aware of other video surveillance laws?

There are other laws that impact the use of surveillance. The Human Rights Act of 1998 enshrines the police’s duty to respect a person’s right to a private and family life. The Data Protection Act of 1998 applies to all video surveillance systems, as an individual’s image is defined as that individual’s data.

The Surveillance Camera Code of Practice supplements previously issued guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office on the use of CCTV in the UK. The latest edition of the CCTV code of practice was issued in 2008. The use of covert surveillance is covered separately under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000.

What are the chances of the code being broadened to include private companies?

Pretty slim. Although private companies and individuals are being advised to use the code as the basis for operating their own video surveillance systems, the government’s ongoing Big Society strategy precludes the idea of increased regulation in this space. However, some individuals and groups, including Big Brother Watch, are still campaigning for the code to apply to all CCTV cameras. As it is, the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice applies only to about 3% of CCTV cameras in the UK.

How do I contact the surveillance camera commissioner?

The Office of the Surveillance Camera Commissioner can be reached at SCC@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

If you’re able to lip read people on a TV screen and you’d like to lip read for us, contact us to find out more.