Poll: CCTV Yay or Nay

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

My van was once stolen off a London street, directly in view of a CCTV camera, the police said they did not have the resources to view the required footage. I even offered to go through it myself!!! But procedure wouldn't allow it

 

[Zukey Seagull]

I work for a rather large alarm/CCTV company and we are always installing a load of CCTV systems and they are very useful, plus a lot more CCTV is going into people's homes. The problem is that with CCTV if you have an incident and you try and prove it was that person who done something wrong, the picture has to be very clear. I have heard when some cases get taking to court and you don't have enough video evidence they can not arrest that person.

Sorry if this is stating the obvious but I'm all for CCTV.

 

[Randsta]

I'm all for them .......especially after watching the film Slither

 

[seagull_in_malaysia]

Do those who take this view have curtains in their windows that they close at night?

If so why? - After all if you are doing nothing wrong then you've nothing to worry about!!!

Personally I enjoy my privacy and I don't want to be spied on sitting on my sofa or walking down the street.

I take that view.

I also draw my curtains (well blinds actually) to stop light coming into the house from the street. Why would I need to bother about privacy? I don't think people are particularly interested in watching me watch my TV...

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Bit blunt, but do you have a right to privacy in a public place?

Poster above talked about being watched on his sofa - whoa! If there is a public placed cctv camera that can see you sitting on your own sofa then I would agree that is overstepping.

For me its quite black and white. If you're an honest law abiding citizen with nothing to hide, they can only be of benefit to you. Conversely, if you're prowper nawty mischief maker [in public] you don't want to be found out, makes perfect sense that you're going to be anti.

 

[father_and_son]

Crime prevention can be achieved by other means without the downsides of cameras.

Surveillance of its own citizens is indicative of a government determined to control. The list of governments who have wanted this much power and then gone on to abuse it is very long indeed.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

 

[Creaky]

Bit blunt, but do you have a right to privacy in a public place?

Poster above talked about being watched on his sofa - whoa! If there is a public placed cctv camera that can see you sitting on your own sofa then I would agree that is overstepping.

For me its quite black and white. If you're an honest law abiding citizen with nothing to hide, they can only be of benefit to you. Conversely, if you're prowper nawty mischief maker [in public] you don't want to be found out, makes perfect sense that you're going to be anti.

I think you are missing the point - privacy in this sense doesn't necessarily mean being totally unseen but rather not being covertly spied on. If I walk through a public park then I expect to be observed by others in the park - what I don't expect is that some unknown individual could be photographing me and recording my presence. In the same way that if I leave my curtains open at night I would expect to be observed by passers by but if I draw the curtains I would find it unacceptable for those same passers by to sneak up to the window and observe me through a crack in the curtains - what I'm actually doing is totally irrelevant.

I'm sure that individuals like Kate nee Middleton is a law abiding citizen but there was an almighty row when photographs of her were taken without her knowledge - it has nothing to do with whether or not an individual is behaving lawfully but more to do with the actions of the observer and the way in which surveillance is carried out.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I was never bothered but then I remember reading about a nightmare scenario and thinking...if that ever happens its gone too far...

The scenario is this:

Imagine you are secretly gay, perhaps youre married but have a secret homosexual urge. One night, you're out with your boyfriend and go to a gay bar and as you are entering or leaving there's an incident of some sort down the road a mugging or an assault, you dont see it and wander off without a clue that anythings up.

Fast forward a few weeks...crimewatch is on...up comes your picture hand in hand with your boyfriend...and Kirsty Wark is saying "Police want to speak with this man seen leaving the Bulldog public house on the night of the incident" your missus is sitting there, jaw dropped...how do you feel about CCTV now?

Another thing to remember is that surveillance, all surveillance relies TOTALLY on the benevolence of the state. Do you think the Nazis would have liked to have a camera on every street watching for deviants or ungermanic activity? you betcha. So whilst at the moment it all seems great because you have nothing to hide...what if, one day, you or, your kids, do?

 

[El Sid]

I was never bothered but then I remember reading about a nightmare scenario and thinking...if that ever happens its gone too far...

The scenario is this:

Imagine you are secretly gay, perhaps youre married but have a secret homosexual urge. One night, you're out with your boyfriend and go to a gay bar and as you are entering or leaving there's an incident of some sort down the road a mugging or an assault, you dont see it and wander off without a clue that anythings up.

Fast forward a few weeks...crimewatch is on...up comes your picture hand in hand with your boyfriend...and Kirsty Wark is saying "Police want to speak with this man seen leaving the Bulldog public house on the night of the incident" your missus is sitting there, jaw dropped...how do you feel about CCTV now?

Another thing to remember is that surveillance, all surveillance relies TOTALLY on the benevolence of the state. Do you think the Nazis would have liked to have a camera on every street watching for deviants or ungermanic activity? you betcha. So whilst at the moment it all seems great because you have nothing to hide...what if, one day, you or, your kids, do?

If it came to a choice of identifying a person or car in an abduction or serious assault I would chose CCTV every time.

Next time you have an urge for a YMCA moment wear a hat or a hoodie.

 

[Leighgull]

If it came to a choice of identifying a person or car in an abduction or serious assault I would chose CCTV every time.

Next time you have an urge for a YMCA moment wear a hat or a hoodie.

What a cock you are.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

A CCTV camera on the run up to Barnes Station was one of those that follows you. It cheered me up every morning, doing silly walks, hiding behind cars, playing hide and seek and other such juvenile activities. It made a potentially mundane chore (walking to the train) a bit of fun for a sad individual like me.

I have absolutely no problem with being videoed when I am out and about.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

I think you are missing the point - privacy in this sense doesn't necessarily mean being totally unseen but rather not being covertly spied on. If I walk through a public park then I expect to be observed by others in the park - what I don't expect is that some unknown individual could be photographing me and recording my presence. In the same way that if I leave my curtains open at night I would expect to be observed by passers by but if I draw the curtains I would find it unacceptable for those same passers by to sneak up to the window and observe me through a crack in the curtains - what I'm actually doing is totally irrelevant.

I'm sure that individuals like Kate nee Middleton is a law abiding citizen but there was an almighty row when photographs of her were taken without her knowledge - it has nothing to do with whether or not an individual is behaving lawfully but more to do with the actions of the observer and the way in which surveillance is carried out.

On the contrary, I think its you missing the point of my question which was angled at the differentiation of CCTV in a public place as opposed to a private place [your sofa]. You clearly have an objection to you being filmed in any place and I'm interested to understand why. I can fully understand not wanting to be filmed in private, I share the same view, but please help me to understand why you object to being filmed in public. Do you not agreee that if you are conducting yourself in a law abiding manner, it can only serve to protect you and be to your benefit?

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

I was never bothered but then I remember reading about a nightmare scenario and thinking...if that ever happens its gone too far...

The scenario is this:

Imagine you are secretly gay, perhaps youre married but have a secret homosexual urge. One night, you're out with your boyfriend and go to a gay bar and as you are entering or leaving there's an incident of some sort down the road a mugging or an assault, you dont see it and wander off without a clue that anythings up.

Fast forward a few weeks...crimewatch is on...up comes your picture hand in hand with your boyfriend...and Kirsty Wark is saying "Police want to speak with this man seen leaving the Bulldog public house on the night of the incident" your missus is sitting there, jaw dropped...how do you feel about CCTV now?

Another thing to remember is that surveillance, all surveillance relies TOTALLY on the benevolence of the state. Do you think the Nazis would have liked to have a camera on every street watching for deviants or ungermanic activity? you betcha. So whilst at the moment it all seems great because you have nothing to hide...what if, one day, you or, your kids, do?

If you're doing something secret - in a public place - you are clearly stupid and probably deserve to get exposed for what you are .... a secret cheat. If you must do something in secret, do it in private = less chance of being caught.

Never mind CCTV exposing you, what if you walked in to that gay bar [anywhere] and bumped in to someone that knew your Missus / kids / whoever. Your undoing wasn't CCTV caused, it was your own actions.

Don't do anything wrong [in public] and you'll most likely not get caught.

 

[Leighgull]

If you're doing something secret - in a public place - you are clearly stupid and probably deserve to get exposed for what you are .... a secret cheat. If you must do something in secret, do it in private = less chance of being caught.

Never mind CCTV exposing you, what if you walked in to that gay bar [anywhere] and bumped in to someone that knew your Missus / kids / whoever. Your undoing wasn't CCTV caused, it was your own actions.

Don't do anything wrong [in public] and you'll most likely not get caught.

I think you're conflating a few things there. Illegal with immoral for one thing and secret with sordid on the other. I think the question is valid. If you are not doing anything which is against the law then do you deserve to be dragged into public scrutiny? Actually, judging by some of the views on the Maddie McCann thread I think there are a lot of high minded hypocrites who post on here.

Obviously if you are perfect, have no secrets, never do anything illegal or shady and are a paragon of virtue then you would be very keen to snoop on all the other poor sods who aren't.