I've lived during the past 3 odd years in London, the city of CCTV (closed-circuit television). Sitting on the bus there is CCTV, in some buses even a TV-screen where you can see yourself being recorded ( although this has on a few occasions entertained me watching tourists pulling faces and children excited shouts to parents "Mommy, I can see myself"). On the Underground, there will from time to time be a warning over the speakers from the control room " Please stay well behind the yellow line - that includes you sir in the blue jacket and the red shoes" reminding you that you are being watched constantly.
I have had to have a good think about where I stand in the privacy vs. CCTV issue, but all in all I am not against it.
I witnessed a fatal bus accident in late 2005, when I was interviewed by the plaintiff’s solicitor I was told that they had requested the CCTV footage and that made me feel confident that the event would be shown in court as it happened rather than rely completely on witness statements. But then one could voice the question, is science better than real people? Scientific evidence can be tampered with just as people can forget details over time or have emotions cloud their memory.
Back to CCTV, it and other surveillance equipment may it be hardware or software, is a safety net. My feeling are that if you have nothing to hide and have done nothing wrong - then why bother?
Sure, being a single twenty-something who has done the whole party hard and date like there is no tomorrow, I am well aware that if the "best of CCTV footage of me" were ever to be shown it would make me seriously consider moving to Timbuktu.
But as a weapon against crime the CCTV has, as far as I am concerned, earned its right of existence.
