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 News from Around the Americas | July 2007 
Americans Favor Security Over Privacy
 Lee Webb & Sarah Pollak - CBN News
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| "The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments."
- William H. Borah |
There's a growing debate over security versus privacy in the U.S.
With the eyes of big brother increasingly following Americans, critics question the high costs and privacy issues that come with such heavy surveillance.
"Will we become a society where every single move you make outside is being watched?" asked Melissa Ngo of Electronic Privacy Information Center.
The answer seems to be a resounding 'yes.'
A new ABC/Washington Post poll says 71 percent of Americans favor the increased use of surveillance cameras.
And cities across the U.S. - from Charlottesville, Virginia to Oakland, California - are thinking about putting up cameras.
The cameras are similar to the high tech ones already in use all over London, England.
"Some of those cameras are extraordinarily sophisticated. They have facial recognition. Pre-programmed are actual faces of criminals so that the computer will identify individuals who are wanted by the authorities," said terrorism consultant Dr. Magnus Ranstorp.
But all those cameras make some British citizens nervous.
"The concern is … when the information and the footage from the CCTV cameras is just used as part of a fishing expedition in order to find out any information which might be available about people driving in and out of the city," said Gareth Crossman of Liberty.
There are so many cameras in England that British intelligence agencies can track every single car in the country at any given time.
But terrorism experts such as Jerry Hauer say all this surveillance hasn't stopped terrorist attacks and likely won't stop them in the future.
"If somebody's willing to give their life in the execution of a terrorist event then the security camera is going to have virtually no impact," Jerry Hauer, Former Director of the NYC Department of Emergency Management, said.
But the cameras have helped British authorities track down suspects more quickly and they've had a positive impact in the u-s as well.
Cmdr. Jonathan Lewin of the Chicago Police Department said, "We see a reduction in crime in the areas around the cameras. It may not be feasible to put a police officer on every corner, but some day it might be possible to put a camera on every corner."
The Brits: Most Surveilled in World
George Thomas - CBN News
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London - Eight hundred video-surveillance cameras equipped with the latest infrared technology have been installed throughout central London.
The closed circuit television cameras, also known as CCTV, are mounted on poles at more than 200 entrance points around the city.
The area has all the capital's best known landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace.
These high-tech cameras can scan up to 3,000 license plates an hour giving police instant access to any suspicious vehicles. And there's more to these video cameras than meets the eye. They can also zoom in on the faces of drivers entering the city.
"Some of those cameras are extraordinarily sophisticated they have facial recognition, pre-programmed is actually faces of criminals so that the computer will identify individuals who are wanted by the authorities," said Dr. Magnus Ranstorp, terrorism consultant.
Today, the English are the most surveilled in the world. With less than one-quarter of America's population, Britain has nearly three million surveillance cameras in the country-- 10 percent of the world's total. Increasingly, the data from these cameras are being pooled.
But some are concerned that their country is becoming a police state. Privacy advocates argue the surveillance technology promotes a false sense of security and is a complete invasion of public privacy.
"The concern is, is when the information and the footage from the CCTV cameras is just used as part of a fishing expedition in order to find out any information which might be available about people driving in and out of the city," said Gareth Crossman, who works for London-based watchdog group.
Crossman says millions have been misled over the dual function of this new surveillance system. He calls this "function creep."
"When a system is put in place, whether it be a CCTV system, ID Card system, it will always be put in for a particular purpose," Crossman said. "Once it's in place the government or whichever body it is that's introducing it, will then say now that we have this system in place let's see what else we can use it for. As a consequence, whatever is being initially proposed, you can almost guarantee that in a few years down the line, there will be all sorts of new suggestions as to what further uses it can be put to."
What's amazing about all this surveillance is that a majority of Brits don't seem too worried by it. In fact, the camera's are hailed as the people's technology.
And it's not just the English who are gaga over CCTV technology. Since 9/11, camera surveillance has been rising around the world.
The big question is: Will the U.S. follow in Britain's footsteps?
Today, many private businesses, town governments and police departments across the U.S. are installing surveillance cameras.
And now at a time when U.S. federal agents watch Americans more closely than ever, privacy advocates want to know - who's watching the watchers? |
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