{"id":5664,"date":"2009-05-28T09:17:33","date_gmt":"2009-05-28T08:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/contributions\/whos-watching-you\/5664\/"},"modified":"2009-05-28T09:17:33","modified_gmt":"2009-05-28T08:17:33","slug":"whos-watching-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/contributions\/whos-watching-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Who’s Watching You?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Anthony Hildebrand | <\/span><\/p>\n

A new BBC series looks at surveillance in the UK. It\u2019s something the industry could learn from, says I4S editor Anthony Hildebrand.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last Monday the BBC broadcast the first in a new three-part series called \u2018Who\u2019s Watching You?\u2019 UK readers can view the show (until next Monday) by using the BBC\u2019s iPlayer facility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In his BBC blog<\/a>, series producer Mike Rudd says: \u201cCheaper and more advanced technology has prompted a massive expansion in surveillance \u2014 not just through CCTV, listening devices, tracking, but also through all the personal data that’s collected on every one of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas says, we leave an “electronic footprint” behind us almost wherever we go \u2014 with every click of the mouse, every phone call, every time we use a credit card. And that information just grows and grows, allowing a more and more detailed and intrusive picture to be constructed of how we each live our lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paradox is that there is a great deal of support for things like CCTV. We all benefit from better crime detection and from easier and cheaper services. But we know surprisingly little about the depth and breadth of modern surveillance, or about the potential problems when things go wrong.\u201d
\nA lot to offer<\/strong>
\nThe show is an \u2018authored\u2019 piece, with presenter Richard Bilton offering his views and opinions on the issues raised \u2014 which included council misuse of RIPA powers, ANPR use by police, data loss, and more.<\/p>\n

And because it\u2019s an authored investigation, it employs ever-present, irritating, faux-degraded imitations of CCTV footage, and annoying, constantly moving, constantly zooming and re-focusing cameras. We get it, Mike, ok? It\u2019s about CCTV. Relax.<\/p>\n

But despite these stylistic reservations, I think programmes such as this one have a lot to teach the security industry about the actual concerns of the public. Investigations into the \u2018surveillance state\u2019 are often dismissed by the industry as alarmist and ill-informed, but the very fact that programmes such as this one are being made \u2014 to express the concerns of a sizable proportion of the public \u2014 mean the image of the surveillance industry could do with some improving.<\/p>\n

If the security industry is to be effective in preventing crime, terror and other incidents, and in investigating and prosecuting those that do take place, it needs the trust of the public behind it.
\nConfusing messages<\/strong>
\nAs Bilton himself said on Monday, the British public sends out confusing messages about surveillance. \u201cWe embrace it, and want more, not less,\u201d he said. And we allow cameras deeper into our private lives than authorities would (currently) dare go.<\/p>\n

But there is a constant concern about the potential for a \u2018police state\u2019. And that is amplified when cameras and surveillance methods become intrusive.<\/p>\n

This can be simply an irritation. But there\u2019s potential for it to be much worse, unless it is regulated and controlled effectively.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re always told \u201cif you\u2019ve got nothing to hide, you\u2019ve got nothing to worry about.\u201d Which is fine if you know where you stand. But what if the goalposts shift? What if \u2014 perish the thought \u2014 a government which you don\u2019t agree with, with different notions of what \u2018nothing to hide\u2019 might mean \u2014 comes to power?
\nProtected from protectors<\/strong>
\nThere needs to be a system in place to ensure surveillance \u2014 and more specifically, surveillance databases \u2014 cannot be used against the people they are meant to protect.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, the security industry has a responsibility to ensure that the use of its equipment and technologies are safeguarded through effective and stringent privacy and data protection legislation and enforceable standards.<\/p>\n

And for its own good \u2014 for our own good \u2014 it needs to be seen to be advocating privacy, care with databases, and individual rights. It\u2019s not only good PR, it\u2019s for the greater good.<\/p>\n

At the close of the first episode, Bilton says he seen no evidence so far to support \u2018Big Brother\u2019 theories. But, he says: \u201cI think the march of surveillance is pretty much unstoppable. And if that\u2019s the case, I think we need more protection, better regulations, and stronger safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Anthony Hildebrand | A new BBC series looks at surveillance in the UK. It\u2019s something the industry could learn from, says I4S editor Anthony Hildebrand. Last Monday the BBC broadcast the first in a new three-part series called \u2018Who\u2019s Watching You?\u2019 UK readers can view the show (until next Monday) by using the BBC\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1615],"tags":[37,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-5664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-contributions","7":"category-uk-news","8":"tag-id-cards","9":"tag-uk-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}