Smile…You’re on CCTV

A Party member lives from birth to death under the eye of the Thought Police. Even when he is alone he can never be sure that he is alone. Wherever he may be, asleep or awake, working or resting, in his bath or in bed, he can be inspected without warning and without knowing that he is being inspected His friendship, his relaxations, his behavior toward his wife and children, the expression of his face when he is alone, the words he mutters in sleep, even the characteristic movements of his body, are all jealously scrutinized.”  George Orwell, 1984, published 1949

‘They’ are behind schedule, but getting closer and closer. Think warrantless searches…where the DHS and other government agencies can enter your home while you are gone and search your house and computer, never tell you, and threaten your neighbor who might witness the intrusion that if they tell you they will go to jail, and it’s not just used for terror suspects anymore. And of course you already know that the government can get a list of books you check out from the library and forbid the librarian from tipping you off.

No cameras in your house yet, but they’re spreading all over the public spaces in some cities. In London they (the government) can probably video track you all the way from when you leave your house to go to work to when you come home at night. Last estimate I heard was that there were 2-4 million CCTV cameras surveilling the citizenry. In America those traffic light cameras are multiplying like bunnies and in large cities the CCTV cameras are getting much more common.  The trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down and now face recognition can easily identify people on the street.

There are many critics of this kind of surveillance and their fears are not unfounded.  There is the real possibility that we may not be able to met anonymously or walk or drive around the city without being recorded.  If there is a demonstration going on and you stop to talk, this can be recorded and wrong suspicions could possibly be raised.  The state does NOT have the right to track your everyday movements…but they want to be able too.

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