Guest guest Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 Britain is " waking up to a surveillance society that is already all around us, " the government's Information Commissioner has said. Richard Thomas spoke after research found people's actions were increasingly being monitored. The Surveillance Studies Network report says there are up to 4.2m CCTV cameras - about one for every 14 people. Other techniques are used to record people's work rate, buying habits and travel movements. Surveillance will increase in the next decade, the report adds. 'Looser laws' The report's co-writer Dr David Murakami-Wood told BBC News that, compared to other industrialised Western states, the UK was " the most surveilled country " . " We have more CCTV cameras and we have looser laws on privacy and data protection, " he said. " We really do have a society which is premised both on state secrecy and the state not giving up its supposed right to keep information under control while, at the same time, wanting to know as much as it can about us. " Mistakes can also easily be made with serious consequences Information Commissioner Richard Thomas The research says surveillance ranges from the US national security agency monitoring all telecommunications traffic passing through Britain to key stroke information used to gauge work rates and global positioning satellite information tracking company vehicles. The report also highlights " dataveillance " - the combination of credit card, mobile phone and loyalty card information for marketing purposes. Mr Thomas called for a debate about the risks if information gathered is wrong or falls into the wrong hands. " Today I fear that we are in fact waking up to a surveillance society that is already all around us, " he said. Inaccurate But while surveillance could help fight terrorism and crime, it could " intrude into our private space " , he added. " Mistakes can also easily be made with serious consequences - false matches and other cases of mistaken identity, inaccurate facts or inferences, suspicions taken as reality and breaches of security. " The report will be presented to the 28th International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners' Conference in London on Thursday, hosted by the Information Commissioner's Office. The office is an independent body established to promote access to official data and to protect personal details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2006 Report Share Posted November 2, 2006 george orwell eat yer heart out.... >heartwerk <jo.heartwork >Nov 1, 2006 11:40 PM > > Britain is Surveillance Society > >Britain is " waking up to a surveillance society that is already all >around us, " the government's Information Commissioner has said. >Richard Thomas spoke after research found people's actions were >increasingly being monitored. > >The Surveillance Studies Network report says there are up to 4.2m >CCTV cameras - about one for every 14 people. > >Other techniques are used to record people's work rate, buying habits >and travel movements. > >Surveillance will increase in the next decade, the report adds. > >'Looser laws' > >The report's co-writer Dr David Murakami-Wood told BBC News that, >compared to other industrialised Western states, the UK was " the most >surveilled country " . > > " We have more CCTV cameras and we have looser laws on privacy and >data protection, " he said. > > " We really do have a society which is premised both on state secrecy >and the state not giving up its supposed right to keep information >under control while, at the same time, wanting to know as much as it >can about us. " > > Mistakes can also easily be made with serious consequences > >Information Commissioner Richard Thomas > >The research says surveillance ranges from the US national security >agency monitoring all telecommunications traffic passing through >Britain to key stroke information used to gauge work rates and global >positioning satellite information tracking company vehicles. > >The report also highlights " dataveillance " - the combination of >credit card, mobile phone and loyalty card information for marketing >purposes. > >Mr Thomas called for a debate about the risks if information gathered >is wrong or falls into the wrong hands. > > " Today I fear that we are in fact waking up to a surveillance society >that is already all around us, " he said. > >Inaccurate > >But while surveillance could help fight terrorism and crime, it >could " intrude into our private space " , he added. > > > " Mistakes can also easily be made with serious consequences - false >matches and other cases of mistaken identity, inaccurate facts or >inferences, suspicions taken as reality and breaches of security. " > >The report will be presented to the 28th International Data >Protection and Privacy Commissioners' Conference in London on >Thursday, hosted by the Information Commissioner's Office. > >The office is an independent body established to promote access to >official data and to protect personal details. > > > > > > > > > >To send an email to - > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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