Dystopic Visions Sweep Toronto as Surveillance Camera Installations Go Forward

So you know what I just realized now that I've relocated to London? There are cameras everywhere in the city. I mean, quite literally everywhere. And nobody seems to mind.

It unsettled me for a bit, but I think I'm used to them now.

I wouldn't place taking a photograph and video surveilance in the same category...Now, depending on how you use those photographs (ie. release statements, etc.) is a different story.
I'm not arguing for or against, it's all down to how comfortable you are with someone watching you. But as far as a feeling of "security", I think it is a false sense, the government can't protect you or prevent something just by watching us. It doesn't solve or address any real issue. We may want to talk about why we feel some neigborhoods need them and some don't. Obviously crime is one component. Start putting cameras in suburbia, then see who argues against it.

Hey Steve...

"person goes into Store A and buys Product B. Buying habits, eating habits"

They already have that information. It's called ACNielsen. They buy info from grocery stores, and even get consumers themselves to report what they buy, and they extrapolate that onto the larger population. This is an off-topic response, but just so you know. Those rights to privacy of consumption were ceded the day the bar-code was invented.

What is public privacy, exactly? Sounds like an oxymoron. As a photographer, and sometimes street photographer, I want to be able to document my public surroundings... so it might be a bit hypocritical of me to protest when I'm the subject of documentation myself.

Ultimately, people will get used to anything. The problem is, people want to feel safe, whether perceived or not. And the government can do that, they can make you safe. But,how much are you willing to give up for that perception of safety? It will start with cameras. At some point, the powers-that-be will think ,Hmm, the people are used to the cameras, what next? A camera doesn't make me feel safer, it's not going to prevent anything, and the people who are going to perpetrate a crime know they are there and will more than likely disguise themselves in some way.
Now, at some point, all of these cameras will get to be too expensive for the city to maintain. AH, well, have no fear, we have a private company that can do that...again, for a price. Now, they have access to the cameras, which is information, and companies are more than willing to buy or sell information to or from other companies. Hmm, this person goes into Store A and buys Product B. Buying habits, eating habits. Insurance? We taped you walking out of a fast food joint smoking a cig, so we're dropping your' coverage. `Tis a double-edged sword we may not want to play with.

True. Point taken, and it would seem we've learned to live without privacy regarding consumption. And that information is available to anyone willing to pay for it. How much more privavcy should we give up? Should we expect ANY privacy the minute we step out our door?
I can't wait for the "Reality TV" series, traffic disputes, parking tickets, "Let's go to the videotape" or "When Parking Meters Attack".

No skin, Dude, whatever kind of society you wanna live in.

Finally ! Keep em comming, especially with this advanced software that keeps the CCTV cameras from filming me picking my nose inside.

"Grandpa, what was privacy?"
Mental note when in public.
Do not pick nose or ass. Do not grab, rub or rearrange (this includes shifting from right to left) anything in the greater-genital area. Do not stare at women's breasts and or buttocks as they may be married or under 18 and you will be arrested for "just thinking about it". Do not make funny faces behind people's backs. Do not flip the bird at anyone.
Do: Walk through the camera's field of vision, run back around really fast and walk through again and again so that the people watching say, "Hey, wasn't that the guy who just walked by?"
Of course, we can all be confident that only law enforcement will be able to view these...right? I want to help the police, can I aim a video camera at my neighbor's house, just in case?
This slope, she's a' slippery one.

Hey Sean, I actually did mean it as something of a joke when I wrote "Public Privacy", in quotes. Like Deekay wrote, as well, you don't need cameras to know which stores you've been in and bought things from, that data is already recorded with a startling degree of accuracy. I'm also in a similar boat as you as a photographer. If I want to take a picture of someone or something, I damn well do it. If someone walks up to me and t akes a picture while I'm standing at a bus stop, well, I was standing in public to begin with. Take a picture inside my home? Well, I left the blinds open, they could see inside anyways.

In regards to presuming the inherent dickhole-ness of our government to one day sell access to these cameras to a private company who will then use the technology for their own monetary gains, that's, well, a little presumptuous. They've already said they do not plan on monitoring the cameras live anyways, so there's no real need to hire someone to do it. Granted, in the future the views may change, but they may not. Handing out a guilty verdict without trial is something many people would see as an atrocity, so why do the same in this situation?

If you want privacy, don't go out in public. Also, don't get a bank account, email address, cell phone plan, credit card, etc; those agreements you sign that allow the monitoring of these devices state plain as day what the information provided by your usage will be used for, if at all.

In England the government is now hiding video cameras in baked bean tins and bricks.
Surveillence is a very slippery slope.

(http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2251443.html?menu=)

Has the government truly explored all other options that don't infringe on our privacy?

Have they offered any substantial evidence that the cameras will act as a significant crime deterrent?

Have they revealed a plan to monitor the cameras effectiveness?

Have they quantified the goals of the system in any way?

Have they confimed a plan to remove the cameras if they do not deter crime?

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