Public Video Surveillance

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how public video surveillance is becoming one of the hottest issues regarding privacy rights today. Already common in some countries, public video surveillance is now being used in the United States in places such as street corners, where video cameras are installed to see what people on the street are doing, and at big public events such as the Super Bowl. It shows that, while this new video surveillance is being done under the guise of protecting the security of the general public, it has also brought with it a host of new and serious issues regarding the right to privacy. It debates such issues as how much privacy are we entitled to in a free democratic society, where should the eyes of the federal government not be prying, and whether there are any realistic limits to the invasion of privacy in the name of public safety anymore.

From the Paper:

"Surveillance technology has taken many drastic leaps and bounds in many years, as companies scramble to produce it to meet the growing demand for it by government agencies and other consumers who wish to monitor their fellow man. I.B.M., in fact, has recently announced that it would offer a new system of consulting and system-design services for digital network-based video surveillance systems ("Big Blue" 2003). I.B.M. wants retail stores, corporations, and government agencies to abandon older analogue systems and to move the management of surveillance operations to corporate surveillance management departments that will specialize in the operations of such technology. Unlike older systems, digital images can be indexed and searched easily and can easily capture the face of nearly everyone who walks through the doors of a store on any given day."

More papers on Public Video Surveillance:

• Essay # 68686 : "Video Surveillance and Security"
• Persuasive Essay # 134205 : "Privacy vs. Surveillance"
• Argumentative Essay # 104796 : "Privacy and Surveillance"

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