Privacy vs Security

In the order of importance on the index to human needs, safety is second after meeting the basic requisite life giving forces (Physiological needs).

This makes sense when you think the need for safety is so important that without it, we are in immediate danger. For the purposes of this discussion, consider safety to cover preserving all matters of morality, family, possessions, health, and resources/employment.

So with the need for all this security and consciousness, we rely greatly on the systems in place by authority to protect us and ours. Enforcers (mall cops, RCMP, OPP), Judges, Policy Makers, Politians, Military Command, Military Intelligence, Secret Federal Agencies, Secret International Agencies, Seatbelts, Hospitals, Backround Checks, 911. A lay person would not be hardpressed to find minor improvements in any of these systems, but few could think of complete alternatives.

One system this web logger loaths, shuns, and particularly reviles, however, is the CCTV system in place in some of the world's larger cities. Governments and some mainstream media would have us all believing these systems are in themselves secure from tampering and abuse, that they prevent crime, and somehow keep the streets safe.

I understand, also, the opposite stance which would have me looking like some sort of paranoid maniac. Why the hell would anybody care about me? Well, in Canada, we are very fortunate. There have hardly been any conspiracies, let alone facts, tying our government to any abuse of snooping. I'm neither rich, nor famous, so who would be interested in learning everything there is to know about me, including that which I'd rather they not know?
Well, it's probably nothing, but once you start giving up your rights, it's a slippery slope to giving yourself up to somebody else's control.

CCTV
Does being on camera make you uncomfortable?

Computer programs now run 24/7/365 logging patterns of behavior by tracking certain "grey list" individuals, trying to catch them in the act of some eventual crime. So this is good, right? When she goes in to buy the 8 ball from her coke dealer, there'll be a boy-in-blue-waiting outside the door with cuffs. One less drugged up whore on the streets, right? Oh and we'll tack on those reported petty thefts the make-up store reported last month based on slightly out of focus security camera captures and imperfect facial recognition software.

Okay, I'm exaggerating to prove a point. Instead of relying on traditional crime reporting and investigative methods which assume, as our constitution states it should, that all users are innocent until proven guilty, we are simultaneously investigating all of the individuals captures by modern surveillance systems. Cameras, Cell Phones, Credit Card statements, and now powerful sattelittes with uncanny surveillance and tracking capabilities are the tools of modern governments used to spy on your average Joe.

This sort of power should not be entrusted to any organization. It shouldn't be allowed to operate in the first place. It's all well and good to have "Watchmen" who can see and react to a situation. It would be nice if we didn't have to pay each of these Watchmen a full-time police officer's salary. However, a key difference here is that if police were stationed on every corner, of every street, every hour of the day, but did nothing to stop crime that is happening right now, we'd call this a gross misuse of taxpayer money.

I, for one, am not willing to give up my rights to privacy to Big Brother in order to feel marginally safer. I prefer to look after myself.