Police chief's 'Orwellian' fears

 

There are up to 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain

 

A senior police officer has said he fears the spread of CCTV cameras is leading to "an Orwellian situation".

 

Deputy chief constable of Hampshire Ian Readhead said Britain could become a surveillance society with cameras on every street corner.

 

He told the BBC's Politics Show that CCTV was being used in small towns and villages where crime rates were low.

 

Mr Readhead also called for the retention of some DNA evidence and the use of speed cameras to be reviewed.

 

His force area includes the small town of Stockbridge, where parish councillors have spent £10,000 installing CCTV.

 

Mr Readhead questioned whether the relatively low crime levels justified the expense and intrusion.

 

'Every street corner?'

 

"I'm really concerned about what happens to the product of these cameras, and what comes next?" he said.

 

"If it's in our villages, are we really moving towards an Orwellian situation where cameras are at every street corner?

 

"And I really don't think that's the kind of country that I want to live in."

 

There are up to 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain - about one for every 14 people.

 

The UK also has the world's biggest DNA database, with 3.6 million DNA samples on file.

Source - BBC News

 

 

Well, no sh!t Sherlock.... Civil Liberties organisations have been warning of this sort of thing for bloody years now, still, good to finally see the Police finally waking up to the facts... I just cannot see it as possibly being justified to have over 4 million cameras tracking our every bloody move.. Crime is not that bad, and I reckon you only need to have CCTV in high crime areas or in shops and business premises anyway... Yes, CCTV can be an effective crime-fighting tool, BUT I am not convinced that this is the only purpose that it is being used for...

Fully agree, further and further our privacy and civil liberties are being eroded, ID cards, prevention of terrorism act which can be used to crack down on anti government dissent, speed cameras, CCTV, I have no doubt that our MSN and phone conversations are intercepted by GCHQ if certain keywords are used (so for example if you say Bush or Blair then you are flagged at GCHQ and your conversations intercepted)

 

This is the most control freak government I have ever encountered

Fully agree, further and further our privacy and civil liberties are being eroded, ID cards, prevention of terrorism act which can be used to crack down on anti government dissent, speed cameras, CCTV, I have no doubt that our MSN and phone conversations are intercepted by GCHQ if certain keywords are used (so for example if you say Bush or Blair then you are flagged at GCHQ and your conversations intercepted)

 

This is the most control freak government I have ever encountered

 

that's this thread intercepted :lol:

 

I'm off to trim my rose bush, and watch the Blair Witch project ^_^

 

back to CCTV though and this idea of Big Brother, okay every street corner is a bit excessive and a bit of an exaggeration (at the moment), but if you haven't got anything to hide then why worry? Which spins along to the next point of why? Who monitors the people who monitor us? and why oh why have they invented talking CCTV

 

that's this thread intercepted :lol:

 

I'm off to trim my rose bush, and watch the Blair Witch project ^_^

 

back to CCTV though and this idea of Big Brother, okay every street corner is a bit excessive and a bit of an exaggeration (at the moment), but if you haven't got anything to hide then why worry? Which spins along to the next point of why? Who monitors the people who monitor us? and why oh why have they invented talking CCTV

 

LOL Matt :P I honestly reckon if I said on MSN tonight that I was going to shoot Bush I would have the CIA breaking down my door and shipping me off to Guantanamo Bay :o

 

Its the principle though Matt

 

Crime is no higher in reality than it was 15/20 years ago despite what the media might lead us to believe and the threat of terrorism was a lot higher with the IRA bombings compared to now so what reason is there for us to need a police state with everyone spying on us ? it is not justified

 

It is a matter of time before tracking devices are fitted to all new cars and I honestly think before the next 25 years is out that we will be forced to have a microchip fitted under our skins or whatever to monitor our movements, sounds paranoid but that is the way things are going

Edited May 20, 200718 yr by Vic Vega

but if you haven't got anything to hide then why worry? Which spins along to the next point of why? Who monitors the people who monitor us?

 

Mate, no offence, but I do grow a bit tired of that justification, having or not having anything to hide is totally immaterial, the right to privacy is a principle which we should all be concerned about... Did you know that there are some employers out there that are actually insisting that their workers clock in and out to work using FINGERPRINT/BIOMETRIC ID!!!! I sh!t you not, and we aint talking about the Police, MOD, the armed forces or MI5 here, we're talking about ordinary businesses.... It's fukkin' outrageous, and quite possibly in direct conflict with either UK or EU law....

 

Mate, no offence, but I do grow a bit tired of that justification, having or not having anything to hide is totally immaterial, the right to privacy is a principle which we should all be concerned about... Did you know that there are some employers out there that are actually insisting that their workers clock in and out to work using FINGERPRINT/BIOMETRIC ID!!!! I sh!t you not, and we aint talking about the Police, MOD, the armed forces or MI5 here, we're talking about ordinary businesses.... It's fukkin' outrageous, and quite possibly in direct conflict with either UK or EU law....

 

 

do you have a CCTV watching inside your house at this very second?

 

and as for fingerprint biometrics, I had that at school for withdrawing library books, and I refused and kept my library card. I see no reason for that at all :teresa: Yes the whole idea that it makes sure that the person withdrawing books or clocking in is who they are supposed to be, but they can easily fool them devices as well (as seen on Mythbusters)

I actually don't mind having cctv's everywhere. We need them.

I actually don't mind having cctv's everywhere. We need them.

 

In shopping centres and railway stations and so on I would understand yes but crime is no worse than it was 15-20 years ago, just more reported and CCTV wasn't watching our every move then

In shopping centres and railway stations and so on I would understand yes but crime is no worse than it was 15-20 years ago, just more reported and CCTV wasn't watching our every move then

 

How many successful prosecutions and arrests were made 15-20 years ago?

How many successful prosecutions and arrests were made 15-20 years ago?

 

Its a totally different system now Matt

 

These days the police are encouraged to boost performance targets by the government and one of the common tricks used by police is "offences taken into consideration" so if lets say a guy is arrested for burglary in return for only being charged with 1 offence he will do a deal with police to have 65 others taken into consideration i.e even though he didnt do 90% of them the police will cut him a deal where he admits to 65 burglaries and only charge him with 1 so hey presto 65 offences straight away cleared up by the police and the police force looks good and busy

do you have a CCTV watching inside your house at this very second?

 

and as for fingerprint biometrics, I had that at school for withdrawing library books, and I refused and kept my library card. I see no reason for that at all :teresa: Yes the whole idea that it makes sure that the person withdrawing books or clocking in is who they are supposed to be, but they can easily fool them devices as well (as seen on Mythbusters)

 

You still don't get it, that doesn't matter... the facts are when I leave my house, I can pretty much be tracked everywhere I go from A to B and back again, I'm sorry, but that is control freakery and fukkin' disturbing.... For our "protection"...? Bollocks... It's part of the New World Order's master plan mate, to catalogue us all from birth to death.... Biometric ID cards are almost with us.... You WILL be on someone's database soon...

I'm sure I read a few weeks back that if you lived in an average large town or city, you appeared on 20 or more CCTV camera's if you just went into town for an hour.

oh deary me! :blink:

 

 

Wi-fi and RFID used for tracking

Siemens tags

People can wear the Siemens/Ekahau tags

Wireless tracking systems could be used to protect patients in hospitals and students on campuses, backers of the technology said.

 

The combination of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and wi-fi allows real-time tracking of objects or people inside a wireless network.

 

Angelo Lamme, from Motorola, said tracking students on a campus could help during a fire or an emergency.

 

"You would know where your people are at any given moment," he said.

 

Marcus Birkl, head of wireless at Siemens, said location tracking of assets or people was one of the biggest incentives for companies, hospitals and education institutions to roll out wi-fi networks.

 

....

 

Source: BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6691139.stm

oh deary me! :blink:

Wi-fi and RFID used for tracking

Siemens tags

People can wear the Siemens/Ekahau tags

Wireless tracking systems could be used to protect patients in hospitals and students on campuses, backers of the technology said.

 

The combination of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and wi-fi allows real-time tracking of objects or people inside a wireless network.

 

Angelo Lamme, from Motorola, said tracking students on a campus could help during a fire or an emergency.

 

"You would know where your people are at any given moment," he said.

 

Marcus Birkl, head of wireless at Siemens, said location tracking of assets or people was one of the biggest incentives for companies, hospitals and education institutions to roll out wi-fi networks.

 

....

 

Source: BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6691139.stm

 

I despair I really do :rolleyes:

 

I was being sarcastic when I said we will all end up with microchips implanted in us so that the authorities and big corporations can track our every movement but looks like it will end up coming true :manson:

Runners in all the Great Runs wear electronic tags, so they can see what time you start and finish.

 

It's not quite the same is it :blush:

Runners in all the Great Runs wear electronic tags, so they can see what time you start and finish.

 

It's not quite the same is it :blush:

 

Not really, cos at least the runners actually know what they are and what they're for, and they serve a specific, and practical, purpose... :lol:

 

I despair I really do :rolleyes:

 

I was being sarcastic when I said we will all end up with microchips implanted in us so that the authorities and big corporations can track our every movement but looks like it will end up coming true :manson:

 

Mate, I don't think the suggestion is really all that outlandish at all tbh, not when things seem to be heading the way they are... Biometric ID cards and CCTV are just a tip of the iceberg I reckon.... <_<