what happens to all the hours of tape that just shows people going about there daily business not doing anything wrong and is there a security check on the people who operate the equipment in private shopping centres ? I am getting a bit annoyed about being videoed when I am doing nothing wrong your thoughts please !!!!!!!
2007-01-21 14:59:51 · 6 answers · asked by PARADOX 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
I have to disagree with your premise that CCTV helps to prevent crime. If it does, it's only because signs were posted - or it was a placebo-like effect. CCTV can be very useful in helping to solve crimes, but I question how useful they are when so many units have poor image quality. I think they should be used as temporary/portable solutions - so we don't have so many guards in offices watching hours of endless, mind-numbing normality. I definitely see their benefit though in areas that are prone to more trouble (where crime is bad, in locations with easy access to covetted items, in areas far from the public eye, etc).
I think that most CCTV operators have some rule as to how long they can archive material. It's in the best interest of operators to get rid of pointless recordings (the mind-numbing normality, so to speak) as storage, archiving, and keeping archived recordings secure can cost an operator a lot of time and money.
I do worry about privacy issues, though. Not to mention, it's been shown that people behave differently when they think they're being watched.
2007-01-21 15:16:46 · answer #1 · answered by Galt_007 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The vast majority of these cameras are not being monitored in real time - the tape/DVD-R is only viewed when it becomes necessary to check a particular time frame in which an event takes place that needs clarification or use as evidence in the prosecution of a criminal act.
CCTV in at least one large department store I have had personal experience with usually doesn't even have any security personnel in the monitor room - only when a person is actually seen stuffing something in their pants or changing price tags or what ever, a security officer may "track" them on the monitors - close up and focused - to assure he has good, solid evidence should the person be detained.
If a security officer suspects someone has concealed an item, but is not 100% sure, he may check the particular recording to see if it contains any evidence to confirm his suspicion.
Otherwise, can you imagine a more boring job than staring at a monitor(s) watching people going about their shopping day in and day out, for 8 hours a day?
I strongly suspect that the cameras are far more of a deterrent than an invasion of anyones privacy.
Note: The cameras on the signal lights and toll booths only trigger a picture if the light is red or the toll isn't registered. The recordings from the cameras at ATM's are never checked unless there is a specific reason to suspect fraud or other criminal activity.
Personally, I like the extra security. If anyone wants to watch my daily activities in public, I don't really care - but I think if it's that entertaining, I should get at least a paycheck from the Screen Actors Guild.
2007-01-21 15:30:15 · answer #2 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its not really "tape" these days. More digital... recorded to some form of hard-drive or digital memory.
Whilst I am anti-ID cards, I think the benefits of CCTV in public places outweigh privacy concerns. Did you see the 3 thugs who beat and stabbed the two teenage boys at the edge of a shopping centre, by the carpark as they were waiting to be picked up? It was recorded by the centres CCTV in full clear colour. One of the young men, handsome... minding his own business as he got stabbed, died in hospital that night. Without the CCTV the police may never have found the perpetrators who were sent to jail.
2007-01-21 15:06:37 · answer #3 · answered by Joe Bloggs 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It probably gets taped over. I can see no reason to mind being taped unless you want to break the law.
For what nefarious use could someone operating a security camera use the footage of people going up and down the street on inside a mall? By the shear numbers of these people, what harm could be fall them?
My wife has a phobia about throwing away our address in the trash. Someone might find it. So, big deal. All they would have to do is look in the phone directory if they knew our name, or do an address lookup, or reverse phone number lookup if they had our phone number. Our protection is in our shear numbers, don't worry about it, unless you want to mug someone, then worry about it.
2007-01-21 15:11:09 · answer #4 · answered by plezurgui 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
unfortunatly it is not a free country anymore because of crimes. you are tracked and watched all the time. if not on cctv/speed cameras then it's other ways. credit scoring tells you where you are/have been when you apply, oyster cards know where you are/where you have been/where you are going etc etc.you are being watched all the time in one way or another
2007-01-21 19:52:24 · answer #5 · answered by JESTER 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my thoughts are for as long as im on video, if anything happens to me, the person will be caught, so i really dont mind being on it, ive got nothing to hide (apart from picking knickers out of fat bum, and picking nose etc), but i dont really do that often lol
2007-01-22 03:29:02 · answer #6 · answered by button moon 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋