New "Game" Encourages Secret Police-Style Spying

[happysock]

I think it's pretty cool, I'm not that fused about being seen on it as
1 I don't live in stratford apon avon and it will probably take a few years to get to where I live
2 I don't go out on the streets that often I'm normally inside either home, college or bar/club/pub
3 I don't commit crimes

I don't see what the problem is

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I don't think "appalling" is even remotely close to describing this.

 

[SirCannonFodder]

How exactly is this a bad thing, anyway? They're all in public areas, so what they're recording is what anyone can see. How is that "Orwellian"?

The fact that they also show non-illegal activities is what makes all the difference. Since the security cameras are a passive form of surveillance, anyone who wants access to them can watch. For example, a jealous lover that suspects cheating could theoretically watch a significant other in a public place kissing someone else (or more, of course). This can then turn to a much more serious, private crime - like domestic abuse or murder.

Using passive surveillance for the "greater good" also has more political methods of corruption, using blackmail to gain power over others, and so on. We humans have a superb understanding of how to pervert great ideas to destructive purposes.

...expcept that the camera you watch is random, so the odds of you seeing something remotely relevant to yourself are literally close to winning the lottery (42 million, multiplied by the odds of something relevant being recorded by a camera.). Plus, anyone doing something they can be blackmailed for in front of a CCTV camera is a freaking moron.

Alright if you feel that way can I spy on you at all times of the day

Sure, have fun watching the street outside my apartment tower, since that's all you'd see.

 

[NOT WILL]

What about privacy? and stalking?
somepeople get upset if their Email gose out and this is where you are all of the time

 

[MajoraPersona]

This is stupid. If anyone can use the cameras, then everyone will be able to figure out where they're placed, break them, and then commit their crimes. It's like in Splinter Cell, except without Michael Ironside.

Though it would be awesome if he helped break the cameras and kill the guards.

 

[Maze1125]

How exactly is this a bad thing, anyway? They're all in public areas, so what they're recording is what anyone can see. How is that "Orwellian"?

The fact that they also show non-illegal activities is what makes all the difference. Since the security cameras are a passive form of surveillance, anyone who wants access to them can watch. For example, a jealous lover that suspects cheating could theoretically watch a significant other in a public place kissing someone else (or more, of course). This can then turn to a much more serious, private crime - like domestic abuse or murder.

Except the cameras will likely be handed out randomly so you can't choose where you look and, once it expands to a larger number of places, should only give you places away from where you live yourself.

Yeah, someone could lie about where they live and use Google Maps to find which camera they're using, but do you really think they'll have time to do that with 4.2 million cameras just to find the right one that their wife might be at?

And I'd love to hear why the people who are screaming "1984!!! 1984!!!" think they're justified.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

As with all news out of Britain nowadays, lol, shithole (no offense Englanders, but that is how your nation comes off to me).

None taken, it is kind of.
OT: Pay them to look out for crimes? Fuck that, they should pay us.

 

[o_O]

Oh god, I cannot believe that the Morgan guy actually used Big Brother as the show you'd be better off missing to monitor people. XD

 

[CaptainCrunch]

...expcept that the camera you watch is random, so the odds of you seeing something remotely relevant to yourself are literally close to winning the lottery (42 million, multiplied by the odds of something relevant being recorded by a camera.). Plus, anyone doing something they can be blackmailed for in front of a CCTV camera is a freaking moron.

Except the cameras will likely be handed out randomly so you can't choose where you look and, once it expands to a larger number of places, should only give you places away from where you live yourself.

Do you follow the news? People as a whole are as dumb as they've ever been, while the population steadily increases.

Even then, consider the possibility of a group of people watching with a purpose in mind. Even if the cameras are random, a third party site (like a WoW guild, for example) could post a photo of a "suspect" for people to look for, offering additional money or some other reward. Chances of finding that person doing something suspicious then increase to more realistic probabilities.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

What is it with straaange new games? Lose/lose, and then this! Who comes up with this crap?

 

[Maze1125]

As with all news out of Britain nowadays, lol, shithole (no offense Englanders, but that is how your nation comes off to me).

None taken, it is kind of.
OT: Pay them to look out for crimes? Fuck that, they should pay us.

That is how it's set up.
It's free to watch a camera, and if you catch a crime you get £1000.
The only people who pay are the people who want their camera to be watched.

 

[AvsJoe]

apparently without a trace of irony.

You got that right. Funniest line I've read in a while. From watching Big Brother to paying for the opportunity to become Big Brother for a shot at big money, now *that's* an upgrade.

This is gonna be fun following this news in the coming months. I'm hoping that this idea doesn't pan out (just think of the repercussions if this works), but if it does, England will become an entertaining side show to liven up my otherwise boring life.

 

[Andy Chalk]

It's clear to me now that what Western society really needs is a half-dozen or so decades spent in the grip of a truly repressive, authoritarian regime, so that afterward, when somebody suggests using widespread video surveillance to crack down on crime, we won't have a bunch of people asking stupid fucking questions about why it's a bad idea.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

This is fascist...

 

[Maze1125]

It's clear to me now that what Western society really needs is a half-dozen or so decades spent in a total anarchistic system with no governmental law enforcement, so that afterward, when somebody suggests using widespread video surveillance to crack down on crime, we won't have a bunch of people making stupid fucking claims about it being a bad idea.

 

[samsonguy920]

I dont get why this would be bad. Whats wrong with putting cameras in public places? If they can reduce the crime rate why not as long as they're only in public places or private owned ones where the owner wants them.

Can someone explain why they're bad?

One example follows:

I might just start up a betting pool to see how long it is before it's become known as the second best stalker's tool right after IP locators. They might well state that none of the CCTV cameras will have their location noted to the public, but with Google Earth, a map, and a good knowledge of the urban areas it wouldn't be difficult to work it out.

Leaving the thousands of CCTV's as access to the regular public makes for a gross opportunity for abuse. You could literally follow someone you did not like on there, and then call in every suspicious thing about them, harassing them like crazy and wasting the law enforcement's time and resources. I don't see this service lasting very long when the UK starts charging that service for every single false alarm that gets called in, and for every complaint of harassment. People have better things to be doing for their countries than wasting 4-6 hours a day sitting in front of their screen watching and hoping for the smallest excuse to call something in.
What really flusters me is that this is being implemented in the same country that a great many citizens protest Google Earth from coming down their streets because it violates their privacy. Yeah, this is a great example of a Double Standard.
On the upside, people will also be using the service to know what CCTV's are near their home and workplace. Cue destruction of property in 5..4..3..2..

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

As with all news out of Britain nowadays, lol, shithole (no offense Englanders, but that is how your nation comes off to me).

None taken, it is kind of.
OT: Pay them to look out for crimes? Fuck that, they should pay us.

That is how it's set up.
It's free to watch a camera, and if you catch a crime you get £1000.
The only people who pay are the people who want their camera to be watched.

AHA. Yes, that's right. My bad.

 

[samsonguy920]

I think it's pretty cool, I'm not that fused about being seen on it as
1 I don't live in stratford apon avon and it will probably take a few years to get to where I live
2 I don't go out on the streets that often I'm normally inside either home, college or bar/club/pub
3 I don't commit crimes

I don't see what the problem is

Might go ahead and take a peek at that service over the next few weeks, just because you don't see the camera, it doesn't mean it isn't there. And feel free to see my previous post on how you might also be targeted besides commiting a crime.

 

[SilentHunter7]

Now I don't have a problem with cameras posted in public places (provided there are signs with 'this area monitored by camera' wherever the cameras are pointed). I mean, you're out in the public, people CAN see you, afterall. What I do have a problem with is allowing normal people access to those camera feeds. That's just a bad stalker case waiting to happen.