Privacy - It's Time to Control the Use of Electronic Surveillance

Now : Surveillance cameras in most buildings (operated by businesses), and in some public streets (operated by police) to prevent crime. Although most of these cameras are operated by private businesses instead

It is used all around the world in many institutions in the hope that perfect order can be achieved within its population. In the 1800’s, an English philosopher by the name of Jeremy Bentham, developed the theory of the “Panopticon”. The theory was initially developed in a hope to resolve an issue brought in by the industrial age where institutions were becoming so large and systematic, that they were no longer able to monitor, and therefore control each one of their individual members. The theory was originally developed to be implemented in penitentiaries due to the rampant behaviour of the inmates. The underlying attribute of the theory left a large tower being built in the centre of the institution that allowed the guards to monitor any one of the inmates at any given time. The crucial philosophy of Bentham’s theory was that the inmates were unable to see back through the tower so essentially they never knew when or if they were being watched. Due to human nature, the prisoners would then have to constantly be under the assumption that they were being watched so therefore their behaviour would reflect on this and would produce both obedient and compliant inmates. It was then further realised by the French philosopher, Michel Foucault, that this theory could be used in any form of institution seeking to regulate human behaviour such as schools and

With the seemingly exponential propagation of inexpensive digital communications technologies over recent years, the general public is becoming more aware of the issues surrounding information privacy and government surveillance in the digital age. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a smart-phone has to be wary of how they use their private information for fear of that information being collected and used in a way contrary to their wishes. "Leaky" smartphone apps that transmit private information across the internet can be unethically used by government agencies. The issue of privacy is a balancing act; the public usually wants increased privacy and the government usually wants increased access.

Privacy is what allows people to feel secure in their surroundings. With privacy, one is allowed to withhold or distribute the information they want by choice, but the ability to have that choice is being violated in today’s society. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He who sacrifices freedom or liberty will eventually have neither.” And that’s the unfortunate truth that is and has occurred in recent years. Privacy, especially in such a fast paced moving world, is extremely vital yet is extremely violated, as recently discovered the NSA has been spying on U.S. citizens for quite a while now; based on the Fourth Amendment, the risk of leaked and distorted individual information, as well as vulnerability to lack of anonymity.

Surveillance has become an uprising issue lately in today's society similar to the use of telescreens in the book, 1984. The telescreen was essentially a 2-way TV capable of allowing thought police to view and listen to anything that is in its vision.

Almost fifteen percent of employers admitted to videotaping employee job performance and 35.3 percent to videotaping for security purposes (Barrett, 2008). Wachovia has bought various tools to monitor and document employee behavior and to spot and evaluate any criminal activity (Wolfe, 2008). Hannaford Bros. and Pathmark are using intelligent systems that interpret video images to identify employee theft and shoplifting (Garry, 2008). At many major casinos, trained security professionals are stationed in a video surveillance room closely observing the activity at the high-stakes gaming tables for hints of fraudulent behavior that would put the casino at risk. Mobile phones are also frequently used to gather location data. The geographical location of a mobile phone and the person carrying it can be determined through the GPS located whether it is being used or not. This is done through a technique known as mutilateration. Mutilateration calculates the differences in time for a signal to travel from the cell phone to each cell towers near the owner of the phone (Surveillance: Technology and Law, 2008). Businesses monitor data and traffic on the internet through computer surveillance. Another form of surveillance that is on the rise is monitoring social networks through social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter as well as from traffic analysis

The increasingly pervasive presence of surveillance seems a peculiar and increasingly urgent feature of twenty-first century culture. Discussions about the need for national ID’s, the presence of surveillance cameras on street corners, recent concerns about phone tapping and listening into people’s conversations had been reflected in the popular media in movies such as “V for Vendetta”. However, using Foucault’s work on Panopticism, surveillance has always been a feature of early and late modern culture. It is imposed on both individuals and societies in general and focuses on the surveillor, either through the single authority figure or via the larger infrastructure of government interventions. The movie and the Panoptic model questions

“A Surveillance Society,” by William E. Thompson and Joseph V. Vicky (2012) is a selection from the text book Society in Focus that tells the readers about the widespread use of cameras in public places and also the risk of high tech surveillance. The authors gives the reader information about many topics such as the growing trends, different types of surveillance technology, Information sharing and the effect surveillance has on the way we are living today. Since September 11, 2001 after the horrific and devastating terror attacks surveillance systems have been increased in public. Often cameras are disguised as street lights and other things so the the citizen doesn’t even know that they are being videotaped. The author argues that this

This has prompted public officials like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to speak of the “important function” such cameras play in offering safety on a daily basis and during events both big and small. The successful use of this technology in such a high-profile investigation is likely to prompt other major cities to reaffirm – and even expand – their investment in and use of surveillance cameras”

In the United States of America there are cameras and government takes control of almost everything. In 2014 there were 245 million professionally installed video surveillance cameras active and operational globally. These cameras can surveillance you’re every move, whether you’re shopping the grocery store or driving on the freeway. George Orwell writes in 1984 says “ big brother is watching you” (Orwell) Orwell wants to show that technology will movie us to the world of big brother because technology can watch us almost everywhere we go. If cameras can be made as small as to be put into a phone and be high definition, cameras can be anywhere watching anyone without anyone seeing the cameras. Even Police officers are now starting to wear cameras on duty to watch over them and to watch over everyone about the size of a cigarette small enough to put on their sun glasses. Cameras will be anywhere the government wants them to be or anywhere they feel they need to be

Basically, anywhere you go surveillance cameras record everything you do. Airports and other high-security places have body scanners and security officers that scan and search your belongings. By merely walking into places with security cameras we surrender a degree of our privacy to the owners and anyone with access to the footage. However, these security measures are necessary for our safety. Many people would gladly give up their personal privacy for security. As one of my professors once said, “…but if the alternative is possibly being blown out of the sky or hijacked, I’ll strip down to my undies and dance the funky chicken if necessary.” Today, almost every building has security cameras; therefore, we are constantly giving up a degree of our privacy for communal safety.

You’re walking in the street and you see a camera, it looks like it is watching you but you only seem to wonder, “What are they watching me for? I’m not going to do anything wrong.” And while you may think that, electronic monitoring does watch over you, but not just you everyone else too. Why are they watching everyone? Making sure that everybody is safe is one of the jobs we have to do as a nation. Crimes happen everyday and keeping an eye on everyone is one of the easiest things we can do. The use of electronic monitoring in public place is a reliable source for protecting peoples’ safety in a simple but reasonable way.

Third of all, surveillance systems should be integrated into modern society to decipher and obstruct crime and terrorism. According to University of California, Los Angeles Law professor, Eugene Volokh, in his article “The Benefits of Surveillance,” The Recollections of a camera are proven to be more accurate than that of an officer. Unlike the human mind, technological devices do not forget or misinterpret substantial details. Therefore, public surveillance cameras are viable tools in diminishing crime (Volokh). As Volokh delineates, Humans are notorious in misconceiving information.

-The logic here is specious just because the spycams are already here does not mean that they aren't going away. Police surveillance cameras were installed in Times Square in the late 1960s, but were taken down because they were judged to be cost-ineffective: in 22 months of operation, they led to the arrest of only 10 people, all for minor infractions.

When one walks out the front door into the world, how aware and conscious are they of how often they are watched, tracked, and monitored? Through surveillance, everywhere one goes they are having their lives watched and invaded by prying eyes. Most people believe society needs electronic surveillance and that it is there to protect them. Others believe society does not need surveillance and worry about their privacy being invaded. Many argue about different issues relating to the costly use of surveillance. Electronic surveillance has a broad range of purposes dealing with past, present, and future events. There needs to be a balance between the benefits that surveillance employs in society and the misuse of surveillance that encroaches on