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American Liberty, BBC, CCTV, CCTV cameras, Civil liberties, Civilisation, Closed Circuit, Defend the modern world, George Orwell, Orwell, Orwellian, Policing in the United States, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Rights and responsibilites, UK politics, United Kingdom, United States
The fear of being watched is innate within the human condition, having been developed over millions of years of evolutionary time and experience. The right not to be watched when going about private or legal business has equally ancient roots, having been fought for from the earliest flickerings of human civilisation.
Despite that long struggle (and its success in other parts of the West) the amount of active surveillance in the United Kingdom remains a disgrace. Take this from someone who is coming to the close of an extended period working abroad – a period that has been marked by a strange and bracing sense of personal freedom and responsibility.
When British people complain of a nanny state or of a ‘Big Brother’ society, the popular tendency is to snigger and judge. Such people (others feel) are simply exaggerating, guilty or else unduly paranoid. To ruffle up this lackadaisical (not to mention extremely irresponsible) serenity, let’s rehearse some important figures:
According to the Guardian (a most un-libertarian rag) there is now one CCTV camera in operation for every 32 British citizens. This means that a total of 1.85 million cameras currently operate in the United Kingdom. There are more CCTV cameras operating in the London borough of Wandsworth than in Dublin, San Francisco, Boston and Johannesburg combined. In the capital as a whole (not the greater region), there are 7431. This compares to just 326 operating in the city of Paris. Indeed, there are more cameras operating in the town of Wigan than in the terror-hit French capital.
British people are watched to an extent that even Orwell’s famous dystopia would have found excessive. When this is added to other forms of surveillance, Britons are reckoned (by serious observers) to enjoy less privacy than East-Germans at the time of the Stasi.
Why is this the case? Of course, the government will reflexively claim that it is for ‘our own good’ – that it is to protect us from crime, terror and accident. But if this were true, why on Earth are the citizenry of Wigan considered to be at greater risk than the Parisians?
None of the official excuses make any sense. And while I don’t want to become a tin-foil hat-wearing type, (I don’t believe in the grand conclusions of Alex Jones et al) something does need to be done if we (and our posterity) are to retain the most basic levels of dignity and freedom of action.
As is well known, Americans are more naturally attuned to the barometer of liberty than we are. On occasion, they are rather too attuned to it. But we really need to take a leaf out of their book when it is necessary to do so. The UK government currently retains the power to read our private emails, to watch what we do in the street and (in urban environments) to film our own back gardens.
This isn’t natural. This isn’t necessary.
D, LDN.
I had no idea it was this bad! One thing to remember: when such organized surveillance exists, it can easily become a tool of oppression in the current climate or grimly, any future (muslim) regime. In effect, Britain has constructed the gallows and dug the graves of its own demise.
Indeed, that’s why it must be reformed quickly. Americans would never put up with this. Why do we?
I agree totally. The problem is though that local politicians and bureaucrats hate relinquishing any powers that they have. Another age-old desire is that of having status and for many of those in authority powers of surveillance over their fellow citizens are a manifestation of personal status. I rather suspect that if it were possible (and one day it may yet be) some politicians and police chiefs would have a CCTV camera in every room of every house in Britain!
Indeed, they are power mad. It needs to change. UKIP didn’t say much about this issue before the election unfortunately. Had they done so, I think they might have gained a lot of extra votes.
They already have those cameras in your home. Those little cameras on your laptops and smartphones can be hacked. I put a sticker over mine but then I’m paranoid.
I’ve heard lots of mainstream libertarians suggesting we put stickers over our web-cams. You’re not paranoid.
Now that the Tories have a majority they are going to try and introduce the snoopers’ charter again. I believe there is similar stuff going on in Europe. Personally I think they’re going to waste a huge amount of resources on this that would be much better spent on targeted monitoring of the obvious suspects, not to mention the civil liberties implications. What if big corporations get their hands on all this data?
I wouldn’t be surprised if private (corporate, for-profit) security firms already have all our details. G4S is very worrying.