George Orwell's vision of a future, outlined in his book "1984", where the state monitors everything you do and say has become a reality.
Ironically this reality is happening within yards of where he used to live.
Britain now has 4.2 million CCTV cameras, that's one for every 14 people in the country and 20% of cameras globally.
Outside of Orwell's flat 27B overlooking Canonbury Square in Islington, North London, there are 32 CCTV cameras within a 200 yard radius.
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) recently produced a report highlighting the growing army of CCTV cameras, and warning that these "security systems" were:
"vulnerable to abuse, including bribery of staff
and computer hackers gaining access to it".
Professor Nigel Gilbert, one of the authors, believes that further installations should be stopped until the need for them is proven.
Even Nanny's own Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has warned that use of CCTV and other information-gathering was
"creating a climate of suspicion".
It may be a solution to apply the same strict planning laws, applicable to buildings, to the installation of CCTV cameras.
However, there is some good news, those morons who are so desperate to get themselves on the retarded Big Brother show no longer need to try; they are on TV 24 hours a day anyway, wherever they go.
Personally I think there are too few cameras in important places.
ReplyDeleteEvery room in the 'palace' of Westminster and Nos. 10 and 11 Downing street, Chequers and so on should be fully equipped and made available on line every day.
OK, well maybe not all rooms should be public but the events should be recorded and saved for posterity in case they are needed to settle discussions about things like WMD ans whether or not the Chancer was advised about the pension grab effect.
there were cctv cameras all over downing street bush and blair are hardly going to have a friendly chat about WMD and oil are they? lol ps. mind you this IS bush and blair we're talking about
ReplyDeleteunfortunately some of them are starting to talk, advising hapless individuals to pick up their litter, stop mugging old people, etc - you get the drift? I thought Orwell's big brother was supposed to be a work of fiction - unfortunately this government seems to be treating it as a manifisto!
ReplyDeleteBen observed: "there were cctv cameras all over downing street bush and blair are hardly going to have a friendly chat about WMD and oil are they? lol ps. mind you this IS bush and blair we're talking about"
ReplyDeleteExactly. And of course once the things have settled into the background the chances are that people will forget they are there. Politicians say stupid things in Parliament and have it reported in Hansard - why would they care about a few more cameras.
But then my hope was that they would simply find it all inconvenient and pointless and maybe take a lesson from that.