Should I be concerned about the surveillence society we are now living in?

Question

What with CCTV, 'phone taps and records, DNA database and the proposed satellite tracking of cars, isn't it time the ordinary man (and woman) in the street stood up, and said "Oi! No!"

I do not believe I have anything to hide, I just don't want the information held about me to be misused. I also think that the right to privacy is a basic human right (which comes with responsibilities, I know).

I apologise for spelling surveillance wrong.

Answer 1

Of course you should, as should we all.

The argument that "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" is exactly the same argument that Stalin used in the Soviet Union, and look at the atrocities that happened under his regime.

If we have nothing to hide, why would the authorities want to intrude into every aspect of our lives and keep tabs on us all? Honest, upstanding citizens must never be treated like convicted criminals.

It never ceases to amaze me, how many people in this country seem willing to throw away their liberty so easily. The same people would, of course, be the ones who would complain most vociferously after the fact.

Answer 2

I personally don't see what the problem is. I don't mind that I may be on CCTV. If my phone was to be tapped then there would be a reason for it to be so. DNA database again you never know if one day it may help you in some way. Satellite tracking, again a great benefit in some case's, i.e. child abductions, drug runners etc.
I live in Spain we have id. cards, we are fingerprinted and it is illegal to go out without it. Again this doesn't change my life.
We are a paranoid world, nobody trust anybody, there's a lack of tolerance, the human race is racing towards it's own destruction, our kids know to much to soon.
These are some reasons why we live in a surveillance society.

Answer 3

Yes, but since the US president Dwight Eisenhower first identified the military industrial complex in the USA that now runs the world, there has been nothing anyone can do about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military-industrial_complex

The only person with global influence to even question the "WAR please" philosophy of MIC, John Lennon of the Beatles fame, ran a highly successful "War is Over" campaign that featured the word "Peace" on billboards across New York and the USA, but was mysteriously murdered at the peak of the campaign.

It just doesn't engender a sense of the fact that the CIA/Pentagon's $1 trillion budget is negotiable with the people does it?

Answer 4

I think Gussie has hit the nail on the head. They are completely useless when it comes to any form of monitoring people. Ok , we all know that our answers are monitored on Yahoo!, but what the hell are they going to do with the response to the question 'How many tears do I cry in a year?'?. Ok, there are many cameras around nowadays, and they are screening our emails, but we live in such a compact country, there is not possible way of watching everyone! The DNA database in nothing to be overly concerned with. You only get put on when you commit a crime, so there is no trouble there (I hope).

And besides, we live in a materialistic and consumer driven society, the man in the street in Britain would NEVER stand up and shout Oi! No!, because he is too busy worrying about where his/her next pint/ipod/new shoes/car/phone is coming from to worry about the ins-and-outs of a surveillance society!

Answer 5

They can't run a p*ss up in a brewery. They may accrue all this information but what are they going to do with it?
Anytime that a Govt department gets a new computer system the whole thing goes belly up within hours.
I agree with you though -it is abhorrent and I don't recall anyone asking our permission for all this stuff to be compiled. In tiny sleepy villages near me they have erected CCTV cameras - what the hell for? In case a passing seagull cr@ps on the pavement?

Answer 6

Who is tracking every single one of the 60 million population in minute detail, examining our lives and activities? The resources and cost of doing so would be immense yet there is no evidence of this. There is no coordinated plan to track every single one of us... come on people!

So what if I am on cctv at the petrol station.

So what if criminals dna is on a database, damn right too!

No one is genuinely watching and tracking ME.

It's all inaccurate exagerated hysteria, in my opinion.

Answer 7

I would welcome a CCTV outside my house, DNA data base is a must would stop a lot of thieves and identify bodies hat have been in morgues for years.
ID card why not you go on about illegals not me
Phone taps, emails etc like the man said if they didn't happen how many more would be dead

Answer 8

Yes. Cameras all over the highways, the intersections, satellites, Onstar(listening in while you drive) GPS works both ways...be very scared there turning us into a prison. Next the revitalization of Slavery.

Answer 9

I`m all for it. People who respect the law have nothing to hide and therefore nothing to fear, and people who commit crimes and behave antisocially are more easily traceable.

How many serious crimes have been solved with the help of CCTV??
And if someone is suspected of being part of a terrorist cell , for example, then let their phones be tapped.

I`m all for identity cards too. I live in Spain and identity theft and bank card crime is way lower than than in the u.k. I see no problem providing proof of who I am. I have nothing to hide.In England I could steal a bank card and spend thousands on it in seconds.Doesn`t happen in Spain, because you need proof of identity for everything. I`m not saying it doesn`t happen ,but it`s nowhere near as easy.

After being the victim of one crime too many I say let big brother look out for the decent people. My "civil liberties " are better protected this way.

Answer 10

We do! The trouble is Gormless Gordon Brown and his Merry men don't want to listen.