Mayor To Citizens
Suck it up!! We’re gonna surveil your asses and you’re gonna like it.
Mayor Bloomberg has a message for New Yorkers who don’t like surveillance cameras: Get real.
“It’s just ridiculous people who object to using technology,” the mayor said, adding that he had not talked with anyone in London who wasn’t “thrilled” at the presence of security cameras in their capital.
The Daily News reported yesterday that a camera in lower Manhattan has been secretly recording license plates in a test of the planned “Ring of Steel” surveillance system.
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Whooee! I ain’t got much problem with takin’ pitchers in publick places. Publick is publick. Somebody wants privacy, they can rent a room.
I’m a little more concerned about Google streetview peepin’ through windows.
Privately owned business security cameras been takin’ pitchers of people on the sidewalks fer decades. In the movies an’ on the TV, they’re always findin’ incriminatin’ videos they use to catch the bad guys.
JB
Some are willing to have the government watching them from the time they leave their home in the morning, some of us ain’t.
Some folks trust the government not to abuse what they record, some of us don’t.
Some folks think it’ll go no further than that, others of us don’t.
Watch 1984 JimBobby – is that really where you think we should be heading?
I am against any infrastructure that I wouldn’t like the Nazis to have. And public cameras everywhere – unlike in front of given businesses – can catch who goes into what room.
I believe that’s the center of my whole political philosophy. Assume that sometime in the future we’ll put fascists in power, and further that those fascists are more likely to show up during times of economic or political stress when people are busy with freaking out and that at least half the population will like them. So make sure you haven’t left the keys in the sun-visor.
So you don’t mind me taking your picture? You don’t mind ME tracking all of your movements in public, and taking funds from the public, posting that anywhere I please so everyone that has contributed to my ability to track your “publick” movements can do so?
It’s one thing to understand the fine distinction between private and public (but after reading some of the stuff on your blog, I wonder if you actually get that idea), but quite another to have no problems with anybody tracking anything you do in anything that is considered “public” space – whether it is a street in Ottawa, or the fibre of the Internet.
JimBobby, you won’t mind if I track your “publick” actions on the Internet, right, and of course, because it’s “publick” money and resources that enable me to do this, publish it all to the “publick” right?
I do have to agree that no one has any expectation of a “right” of privacy when in public.
But damn – if my money is being used to track JimBobby.. shit.. I want to see and know my money is being used very well!!!
Exactly Arwen, according to the morning news [CFRA] the government of Myanmar/Burma has announced that it has pictures of those who participated in pro democracy protests – and that is what any government will do with this sort of technology.
Hell, they do it already JimBobby, why the hell do you suppose our government has cops and agents (undercover and otherwise) on the street with still/video cameras every time there is a demonstration or rally?
Whooee! As far as I know, there is no law against taking pictures of anyone in a public setting. If, however, you publish photos of identifiable people, you need written permission, such as a photographer’s model release. No written permission opens the publisher up for a lawsuit.
So, Ian, take all the pictures of me you want. Just make sure I’m not in a private place and that you don’t publish the pics.
Sure, law enforcement takes pictures at demonstrations and rallies. They’ve been doing that for decades. Why the outcry now?
When someone took a picture of the anti-abortionists illegally using the Government of Canada logo on their protest signage, the ensuing controversy was informative and led to the removal of the unauthorized logo use. I call that a good thing.
When the public had video of the APEC protesters getting pepper sprayed, we had strong evidence to use against an abusive police force.
I’ve been the victim of a mugging on a public street. Perhaps, that tempers my feelings about privacy in public places. I see plenty of public (and private) property vandalized and have been the victim of such vandalism. In fact, we are all victims when public buildings, facilities and parks are vandalized or used as headquarters for illegal activity.
As long as we’re only talking about cameras in public places and private buildings are not subject to 1984 style invasive surveillance, I’m not losing any sleep over Big Brother watching me. When I’m out in public, I refrain from all of the unlawful and/or embarrassing things I might do in the privacy of my own home.
JB
What we’re talking about JimBobby is what the government does with the video and images it captures, do you think they are not keeping databases of “anti-government” people and activities.
do you think they are not keeping databases of “anti-government†people and activities.(?)
I don’t know what they do with their video. Keeping such databases is likely but I have no way of knowing that it is being done. Probably.
When I march or demonstrate in public (and I’ve been doing so since 1968) I expect to be photographed, filmed or videotaped. These are public demonstrations and I do not feel I have any right to privacy when I’m demonstrating in public. In most cases, the very reason I demonstrate is to show my displeasure with government… publicly.
Ditto for signing anti-government petitions. If I wanted to remain anonymous (and voiceless), I wouldn’t sign any petitions. When I sign an anti-government petition, I want the government to see my name and know who I am and that I am opposed to something they are doing.
Ever since the LAPD got caught on video beating Rodney King, video documentation of crime has become an important tool for exposing wrongdoing. Video has also been used more recently in New Orleans to identify police officers beating innocent victims.
If we are to accept video surveillance that incriminates rogue police or Abu Ghraib torturers, we ought to be willing to accept video surveillance of public places where innocent people are victims of crime.
JB
I just hope these cameras stem public urination.