Tech & Biz

Surveillance Cameras: Crime Prevention Or Violation Of Privacy?

by Yuliya Talmazan | August 25, 2009 at 09:45 am

540 views | 4 Recommendations | 3 comments

There have been a couple of interesting headlines making the news recently that had to do with the use of surveillance cameras, their efficacy and propensity to intrude into the lives of regular citizens.

It was recently reported that China has installed a whopping 2.75 million surveillance cameras. Given China's one-billion population, that makes for approximately three surveillance cameras per every 1000 people in the country. Now all major cities in China have surveillance cameras installed, prompting concerns about privacy violations. As Associated Press has reported earlier, Chinese authorities can potentially be using surveillance camera feeds to profile "politically sensitive persons."

Chinese authorities say that the Ministry of Public Security has installed more than 2.7 million surveillance cameras in major cities to monitor the public and will expand surveillance into rural areas. Some democracy advocates are concerned that this will make the already deteriorating privacy situation in China even worse.

According to an Associated Press report, the daily video input from these cameras is saved in computers and used in conjunction with facial recognition software to identify wanted or “politically sensitive persons” by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Interestingly, the efficacy of such a ginormous number of surveillance equipment is pretty low.

actual security situation in China has not improved at all since the authorities started installing a larger number of surveillance cameras in 2003. Over the five-year period from 2003 to 2007, the number of criminal suspects who were approved for arrest by China’s security organs increased by 20 percent, according to China’s official statistics.

Similarly, it was reported that in London, UK, only one crime per every 1,000 CCTV cameras installed gets solved every year. London is one of the world's most monitored cities.

Officers found that the million cameras covering London have helped clear up barely 1,000 crimes.

David Davis MP, the former shadow home secretary, said: "It should provoke a long overdue rethink on where the crime prevention budget is being spent."

He added: "CCTV leads to massive expense and minimum effectiveness.

Living in the next Winter Olympics capital -- Vancouver, Canada, we got the news that the city will spend $2.5 million to install new CCTV cameras for the duration of the Games to remove them once the Games are over, but critics say the cameras might be here to stay.

“People who spend a lot of time thinking about the privacy of our citizens are worried that once the games are over, the surveillance may not disappear, and there may be new ways that are thought up to justify keeping the surveillance apparatus with us,” said federal privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.

“That’s very, very worrisome.”

What is your take on surveillance cameras? Do you want to see more or less of them on the streets of your town or city? Do you think the payoff balances out the expense? Does having too many surveillance cameras around make your feel like your privacy has been violated?

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

eastvanray

at 10:30 on August 25th, 2009

It would be pretty interesting if they put CCTV cameras at Main and Hastings and in all the alleys of the DTES. Then link those cameras to the Internet for all to see. Since we don't punish these criminals for their actions anymore, we might as well be entertained by them!