Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Who Monitors the Monitors?

I am constantly stunned at how readily Brits give away their freedoms. An individuals right to privacy will soon become a thing of the past found only in history books.
London is reported to have the most CCTV coverage in the world. On average a Londoner is caught on camera 300 times a day. The authorities, however don't believe this is enough, so a further $12 million is to be spent on satellite surveillance by 2011. (A similar amount for the rest of the country)
Add to this the abuse of so called terrorist laws, used by local councils to see if you put your rubbish in the right bin (or have the right size bin), check where your dog does its dodos, oh and see if you are taking your child to the right preschool.
Did I mention the loss of your personal data? Not only have we had several government departments lose data, but in one instance they lost it 3 times! There is now a strong motivation to resolve this, our personal information is to be sold for commercial use.
Are you as bothered by this as my growing awareness makes me?