Feels like somebody is watching me...

I don't know what made me do it but I decided that this morning I would count the closed circuit TV cameras that I saw on my way to work. By the time I arrived in the car park at my place of work I had counted 18 different cameras that if all operational had documented my entire 12 mile journey; additionally recording that, once parked, I sat in my car for approximately two minutes listening to the 8 o'clock news bulletin.

Throughout the day as I have been going about my job I have most probably been spied by a number of other cameras.

 

http://www.softhook.com/cctv.jpg


Of course being caught on camera is not really a problem for me. Why would anyone want to document my everyday drive to and from work. After all my life is hardly the Truman Show. You only really notice the power of CCTV when it is required. For instance when the police release the images used as part of an investigation that shows the movements of a suspect or a victim over a period of time. In these images it is clear that nowadays our lives can literally be followed by anyone.

Our mobile phones know where we are so their signals can be used by others to find us. This keeps us safe but could also I guess be used against us. Yesterday I heard a security expert suggesting that certain procedures had to be taken to assess and potentially manage the risk that software developed by Chinese firms could be used to 'spy' on the United States. There was no evidence which suggested that this was happening but the risk that this could happen in the future apparently very real.

Does CCTV impinge on a persons human rights or do they in fact help to ensure these rights are protected? I guess this is the question.

If you get that spooky feeling that someone is watching you - they most probably are.

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