By your right to be safe? Or is it really for your safety that the cameras are there?
You know what I'm talking about. You can't go to a store or a mall or any other public place anymore without having your mug on camera. And now that cameras are becoming more and more mainstream, they're putting them up, not for security, but for marketing and sales counts and other business issues. And while these camera photographs for business do not seem so intrusive, they can be attained by anyone with the right information.
I'm reminded of the telescreens from 1984. Constantly watching you, hearing and seeing everything you say. It's always on, and it's always around, waiting for you to slip up and do something wrong, perform some thoughtcrime.
The same holds true in the places that we shop, and the places where our children are educated. In the local school where I live, there are over 100 cameras just in the halls. Some school districts have decided to put cameras in classrooms. "It's for your safety, it's for your safety.", everyone says. But where do you cross the line between safety and privacy? What do you say? "Look kids, Big Brother is watching!"
There are plenty of things that most people do that they don't want on camera. I'm sure Jackson and Spears don't like it when someone catches them on tape picking their nose (or in Jackson's case, picking his nose off the ground). Most of this is not illegal in any means, just embarrassing. Now, whenever I go to the mall to buy a gift, or go out to eat at the local Burger King, I don't even pay attention to the cameras. I'm used to it, and it frightens me.
I'm not saying that cameras are bad. Cameras stop shoplifters, catch criminals in the act, and so on and so forth. The question is, where do you draw the line, where is the line between safety and privacy that should not be crossed? And if we become jaded enough to not care about the cameras in our shops and schools, how long will it be before we have cameras in our homes?
Something to think about.
Signing off,
NewspeakWordsmith