Doug’s Mouthpiece – Droug.co.uk

Why is the UK the Surveillance Capital of the World?

Why is the UK the Surveillance Capital of the World?

The UK is addicted to surveillance and we are indeed the surveillance capital of the world. In the UK there is a CCTV or security camera for every 14 people in the country. We are constantly monitored and our daily lives are recorded by surveillance cameras.

While we are all used to so called safety cameras on the A and B roads, even motorway driving is now tracked, so they can tell where you go and what speed you are driving at. Your credit and debit card activities are also monitored (this is known as dataveillance) and every time we are out in a shopping centre or in the centre of town, our image is being recorded.

It also appears things are going to get worse and not better with some experts claiming that soon every street in every town will be fitted with a CCTV camera.

Indeed such is the extent of surveillance in the UK that we are now the worst country for surveillance in terms of any other western developed society. Around 20% of all the CCTV cameras in the world are found in the UK and yet we are a tiny, tiny country. So why is this?

Well one main reason could be that we have absolved ourselves of any collective responsibility for the acts of others. Historically, when someone was attacked or hurt or we saw something wrong being done, people would intervene. Now, many people are too scared to do this and there is something at the back of our minds that says ‘Oh it will be ok, they will get the guy using CCTV’. So we just walk on by and of course the more we walk on by, the more crimes are committed, so the more CCTV cameras we need. A vicious circle indeed. And CCTV doesn’t actually work, with only about 3% of crimes actually being ‘solved’ by the use of CCTV. So it is a pointless exercise and it is expensive, since people have to be paid to watch the screens and then supposedly alert the police if a crime is taking place. Sometimes the police will be too busy to attend anyway.

The government’s ‘nanny style’ approach is also to blame. Now the government tells us what we should eat, what we ought to drink, when we should sleep and how we should bring up our kids. So CCTV cameras and recording data is just one further step in the process.

People have also lost their sense of privacy: where would the likes of Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle be if people were not willing to reveal the most intimate details of their lives on national TV, or parade their own unique take on life on sites such as Facebook?

People have lost all faith in politicians, which has turned them off politics, so there is a feeling that people don’t really care. Most people just shrug their shoulders and go and have a pint in the pub.

But all these factors combined give rise to lethargy and a real feeling of just not being ‘bothered’ about CCTV and camera usage. But one day we may all live to regret this lethargy when Big Brother really does take over.

Doug has a bag on his head

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