Installing cameras in taxis to fight robbery in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, seems to be a good idea, but it has caused controversy from the first day of the plan's implementation.

Li, a resident of Xi'an, took a taxi with his girlfriend home on that first day, January 16, and he saw red lights glaring into his eyes.

A policeman shows a camera installed in a taxi. The cameras have stirred a debate on invasions of privacy.

"What is this?" Li thought and then found the answer: "It is a camera; I've met a peeping Tom!"

Li quarreled with the driver, whose surname was Tie. When he told Li that the camera was installed at the mandate of local police, Li did not believe it.

Police say Tie's taxi is so far the only one that has a camera, and yes, there is a trial plan to install cameras in taxis for security reasons.

"We implemented the plan to install cameras in taxis to deter robbery of taxi drivers," said Wang Xi'en, director of the Traffic Security Bureau of Xi'an Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Under the plan, two cameras will be installed in cabs, at the driver's location and the rear seat. The cameras take only photos, not video.

The photos will be automatically deleted after a set of period of time after no crimes have taken place, Wang said.

"But we will not force taxi drivers to install cameras," he said.

Cameras were also installed in 10,000 taxis in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in southwest China, and Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province in northeast China, in November. Officials say they have greatly helped control the number of robberies.

But to some, the issue of privacy is more important. "I do not think the cameras will threaten people's privacy, and I cannot look at the photos. I think it will provide better protection to our taxi drivers and do no harm to our business," said Luo Xiaomin, a driver for the Xi'an Dazhong Taxi Company.

"I agree that the cameras will help improve security, but I worry that they will be peeping when we wear more lightweight clothes in the summer. I hope the photos will be kept and used properly," said Li Yun, a college student at Xi'an Engineering University.

"The photos can be watched only by police as evidence for robberies. The taxi is a public place where cameras will not violate privacy." Yang Guoyong, a traffic police of the Xi'an Traffic Security Bureau said.

"I do not agree with Officer Yang because a taxi is not entirely a public place. The people taking a taxi together often have a close relationship, and their behavior in a taxi may be different from other public places, such as on buses. So, a taxi is only a half public place, and installing a camera may harm their privacy," said Liu Ping'an, a lawyer of Shaanxi Jiwei Law Office.

(China Daily January 24, 2007)