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The surveillance powers granted to local councils under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) should be used wisely, Labour peer Roy Hattersley has said.
Speaking to BBC Two's The Daily Politics, he stated that in order to maintain surveillance for important things, it is essential that the powers are not used for trivial matters.
"Otherwise faith in them in general will be lost," he added.
But he admitted the problem lies in defining what is trivial and what is not.
Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, told the programme that there is growing public interest in finding a balance between the state and an individual's privacy.
He stated that local authorities have been advised to publish an annual report on how the powers, meant, he says, for serious issues like benefit fraud and fly-tipping, are being used.
Another guest of the programme, the president of the Association of Chief police Officers Ken Jones, said the use of some of the powers have created "widespread unease".
RIPA legislates for using surveillance and information gathering to help prevent crime.
It makes provision for the interception of communications, use of covert human intelligence sources and access to protected electronic data.
