Last week saw another wave of ‘public concern’ over the increasing numbers of CCTV cameras.
The BBC recently used the topic as one of their ‘Have Your Say‘ debates.
The majority of the replies ‘recommended by readers’ were scathing remarks against the “you must have a guilty conscience” “brigade”.
Unfortunately for them, many of these criticisms were flawed, along the lines of “why do you have curtains?” and so on – missing the vital point that CCTV is used to monitor people in public places – i.e. not invading privacy as too many people think.
Fact: authorities don’t care what most of us do with our lives; they aren’t watching you – unless you give them reason to.
There were other, more meaningful, comments – CCTV costs lots, cameras push crime elsewhere, cameras can’t arrest (or help) people, etc.
I personally am glad there are cameras, I don’t like the idea that sentence can be passed on verbal ‘evidence’ alone and after semantics-stretching creative-truthing.
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