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January 2008 from Popular Mechanics “The recent boom in video monitoring—by both the state and businesses—means we’re all being watched. It’s like something out of George Orwell’s 1984. Except that, unlike Orwell’s protagonist Winston Smith, we can watch back—and plenty of people are doing just that. Which makes a difference.
The widespread installation of recording devices is not all bad: ATM cameras helped prove that Duke students accused of rape couldn’t have committed the crime. And we all sympathize with the goals of preventing terrorism and crime, though it is not proven that security cameras accomplish this.
Nonetheless, the trend toward constant surveillance is troubling. And even if the public became concerned enough to pass laws limiting the practice, it’s not clear how well those laws would work. Government officials and private companies too often ignore privacy laws…
The widespread availability of digital cameras and video-capable cellphones means that ubiquitous surveillance on the part of the little guys is moving, if anything, even faster than ubiquitous surveillance on the part of the big boys. And distribution tools like YouTube make it easier to get the footage to a large audience.”
180 View – 9/11 changed everything. It seems that most people are ok with less privacy in favour of more security. Technology is also changing everything when it comes to privacy vs security. Some claim that satellites in space can already read a license plate. London’s so-called Ring of Steel, is an extensive web of cameras and roadblocks designed to detect, track and deter terrorists. New York is in the process of doing something similar. According an article entitled “Surveillance: A New Look at Big Brother” published by CIO Today on December 26, 2007, “There are about 30 million surveillance cameras in the U.S. — inside ATM machines, at traffic lights, in department store dressing rooms.” How long will it be when the cameras can find someone based on a retina scan?
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