Paparazzi Police: UK Cops Tweet 'Celebrity' Photo From Surveillance Helicopter

The UK has become used to surveillance. The capital is absolutely swarming with CCTV cameras, and the country is home to one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the world, sweeping up mountains of internet traffic.

Now, acting as a reminder that there are actual people behind the spying systems, some local police have taken a creepy turn: using their surveillance helicopter to spot what looks like a celebrity in London, and then tweeting a close-up picture for all to see.

Earlier today, the London-focused account for the National Police Air Service (NPAS), a body which manages the aerial operations of the country's police forces, tweeted that, "Whilst on tasking in central London this morning we spotted a certain energetic funny man… Can you guess who?…"

The man pictured is wearing a buttoned up blazer with a pink shirt, and has floppy hair. He bears a resemblance to the popular comedian Michael McIntyre.

Presumably, the person in this photo did not give their permission to be photographed and have the image shared publicly online, considering they were hundreds of feet below the helicopter at the time.

However, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police, London's main police force, denied that any wrongdoing had taken place.

"As far as we're aware, there has been no breach of data protection legislation in this occasion," the spokesperson told Motherboard in a phone interview.

Individuals on Twitter snapped back, however.

"You'd almost think that this surveillance thing could be abused or something," one commenter joked.

At around 1pm UK time, the tweet was deleted from the @NPASLondon account. The Metropolitan Police spokesperson said this was "because of negative responses on Twitter." The decision to delete it was made by the head of NPAS, the spokesperson added.

The Ground Operations Director for the NPAS, Richard Watson, told Motherboard in an email that, "We are aware of the tweet and as far as we are aware it does not breach any data protection legislation. We feel however it was inappropriate and it has since been removed." "We will be speaking to the person who posted the tweet."

When asked if snapping pictures of possible celebrities is a worthwhile use of a police surveillance helicopter, the Metropolitan police spokesperson said that "the photograph was taken while the police were on operational duty. They weren't searching for celebrities."