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Does British CCTV Work?
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| NeoPhono |
I can't imagine living with so many cameras watching my actions, but I know the British have for a while now. I was just wondering what the Brits (and everyone else) think about it, and do you feel that it has helped? I think I'd put up a huge fight if they tried to put cameras up in my town. I don't even think they should use cameras to catch people that speed/run red lights, but that's my libertarian opinion. I've included a link questioning the effectiveness of CCTV, just try to ignore its from the Christian Science Monitor. ;)
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| imokruok |
Don't worry about the source. The CS Monitor is a legit news source - their embedded reporters in Iraq won several independent press awards for their coverage of the early days of the war.
About CCTV, I personally have no problem being "under a blanket" of cameras - I just find it disturbing when it's the government that's doing it. Every business has a right to monitor the area around its property, for safety and insurance purposes. (The two main uses of business cam footage are to solve crimes and to use as a defense against lawsuits.) Just this week, a business cam in Florida recorded the abduction of a girl, and the tape will likely be key in prosecuting her murder.
But when it comes to the government, if there are abuses in monitoring, they're much harder to get at. |
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| Spin Doctor |
While the proponents of CCTV claim that “if you’ve got nothing to hide, then you’ve got nothing to fear” as a defence of the continued use of CCTV cameras in our nation, I must admit I am somewhat disturbed by the (ever growing) number of cameras that are deployed. While I have no objection to them being put in ‘high danger’ areas, it comes to a ridiculous point when my local shop has several cameras observing various sections, bearing in mind I live in a rural village!
I have a hard time believing all these crime horror stories we are fed. If we believe what we are told then were not safe to leave our own homes. I think the FEAR of crime is totally disproportionate to the actual crime rate, the constant surveillance through a camera, while obviously useful in some cases, isn’t doing much to help. The use of CCTV should undergo a massive revision and only be used in areas which constitute a ‘high danger’ or have some other consideration, such as the safety of children etc.
My other concern is that it is so easy for this technology to be abused, we really are on the verge of something Orwellian here, after all, who will guard the guardians? |
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| Spin Doctor |
| p.s. good thread topic! :) |
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| NeoPhono |
| It would be a hard pill for me to swallow if my local government decided to start doing what is being done in the UK. I am all about safety and the well-being of individuals, but I am also about individual freedom. I am willing to give up the "safety" of being able to record (possibly) a crime in progress, for the ability to walk down the street without being recorded. Sure, I'm not out there with the intention to hurt anyone or to do anything illegal, so to me it really shouldn't matter. However, as said in a previous post, that is not the point. The point is an individual should have the freedom from constant surveillance, even in public. In the US at least, it's "innocent until proven guilty," and to me, public cameras go against this motto of our legal system. |
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| George Smiley |
I have no objection to CCTV cameras. You go to any city/town in the UK and come out of the bars at 2am and you are guaranteed to see fighting. Due to police CCTV, they can get to the scene as quickly as they can without waiting for somebody to call them. If I was getting ten different species of kicked out of me, I'd want the police to arrive as quickly as possible!!
(BTW, in the UK you have a right to the footage of any filming taken of you) |
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| rizen |
| Government cameras watch me all the time... I live close to a federal building that has a gazillion cameras :nervous: |
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