Following on from my previous posts, I heard about a related story whilst traveling in my car last week and scribbled a note down to (after I had become stationary of course!) post about.
It seems that not only are we to be monitored much more closely through the installation of yet more CCTV cameras. For example in Dawlish, Devon they are about to install the UK’s first officially sanctioned surveillance system. But, now we find out that some authoritie’s are considering the fitting of long range sensitive microphones to some of their CCTV cameras!
It also appears that trials have already been carried out in the London borough of Westminster where the Council has carried out two unannounced experiments with street microphones in central London, one in Soho Square Gardens, all without any notification of these trials or explanation to local residents or visitors to the square.
“The council insist that the system is simply measuring noise levels to alert police to trouble on the streets, but my information is that specific conversations were inadvertently picked up and listened to in this pilot project. The council denies this. The project is now being rolled out across Westminster; we will probably not learn the truth until all our streets are wired for sound and vision and it slowly dawns that liberty and the ordinary human experience in Britain has been incrementally curtailed to a point where we may no longer consider ourselves a free and independent people.” Guardian Story – 2nd December 2006
My understanding of the law, albeit very limited in this area was that the bugging of voice information in the UK was illegal and could only be carried out under a high-court warrant, unless of course I blinked last week and this had been eroded along with a number of other rights. Does this now mean that if I am to be recorded as I go about my lawful business, but utter some comment about a subject that I fell passionate about, my voice will now be heard, by the ‘speech‘ police and I should expect a knock at the door! Perhaps I need to carry a tape recorder to maintain my own ‘track-record’ in case I get caught by one of these long-range microphones
I have heard that these devices are also being considered for use at the forthcoming Olympics, I can think of quite a few of my mainland European based friends that will be horrified to hear this news and I think that once this story really gets out, many overseas people will not want to have their conversations stored on yet another UK government database by simply attending the Olympics.
I think really think that the UK is turning into a paranoid society, with a government intent on controlling every aspect of our lives through fear and legislation. I used a train last week into London and took a picture of the roof trusses (a wonder of Victorian Engineering) at Paddington station – why because it’s there. I think about three seconds later, I had questions being thrown at me by station staff as to ‘who was I’ and ‘why was I taking pictures’? This despite the fact that four or five tourists were close by, happily taking pictures of the Paddington – Heathrow express as they made off to the airport. Perhaps the station staff we also secretly recording my conversation, how can I be sure that they weren’t?
Perhaps, after all, they weren’t really railway staff! Now, there’s another thought!
Tags: Security, Databases, Olympics, CCTV, Surveillance, Microphones
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