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I sure hope Britain can set an example. I recently moved here, and I am surprised how many CCTVs there actually are. They are even indoors and inside buses. I h

by mvalle 16y ago

I sure hope Britain can set an example. I recently moved here, and I am surprised how many CCTVs there actually are. They are even indoors and inside buses. I hope some of these, obviously LibDem, policies can come through. I'm not sure though, most Brits I've talked to actually want the CCTVs. What scares me most, is that the Chinese people I've talked to think that the Great Firewall is a good idea too. I don't hope Britain and it's people go the same route, and I hope I'm mistaken, when I say that oppressed people don't mind, or even like, their oppression.

ErrantX 16y ago
To be honest CCTV doesn't really worry us (well, not me at least). Not on buses (for example) which are after all private endeavours! Street CCTV may be another issue. I mean it doesn't concern me too much (we have a few CCTV cameras on the main street in my town, have done for years, and they have been useful) so long as it doesn't get expanded... But I'm tentatively hopeful. The ID cards were all but scrapped anyway (we fought very long over than one and luckily the prev government lost) but it is good to see that confirmed. Nick Clegg made a big point the other day of talking about scrapping the "Nanny State". If he really does then that will be extremely popular - it's been the most aggravating thing of the last few years. They also talked about increasing the number of coppers on the beat; I've said for a long time that should be a #1 policy for any government so it is good to see it talked about properly. (Incidentally the Lib Dems have really laid into the Digital Economy bill recently - they might win too!)
joe_fishfish 16y ago
The problem in Britain seems to be that largely people don't fear their government, they fear other people. Whether this is due to the class divisions in British society or a culture of hatred and fear promoted by the two most widely circulated newspapers in the country, I don't know. But I do agree that most people see the filming of public spaces as a good thing rather than a bad thing.
- arethuza 16y ago
  I think if you have been out in a UK city center on a Friday or Saturday night you might appreciate the problems the cameras are trying to solve. Not that I agree that the cameras are a good idea - but they are more a symptom of the darker elements of British culture that have pretty much always been there.
mike-cardwell 16y ago
"Obviously libdem" ... Go read the conservative 2010 manifesto: http://media.conservatives.s3.amazonaws.com/manifesto/cpmanifesto2010_lowres.pdf http://media.conservatives.s3.amazonaws.com/manifesto/cpmani... Most of it is in there... Nothing to do with the Libdems.
- mike-cardwell 16y ago
  A few quotes from the Conservative manifesto: "Labour’s approach to our personal privacy is the worst of all worlds – intrusive, ineffective and enormously expensive." "We will scrap ID cards, the National Identity Register and the Contactpoint database." "We will scale back Labour’s database state and protect the privacy of the public’s information." "We will introduce a balanced approach to the retention of people’s DNA and reform the criminal records system so it protects children without destroying trust." "The indefinite retention of innocent people’s DNA is unacceptable, yet DNA data provides a useful tool for solving crimes. We will legislate to make sure that our DNA database is used primarily to store information about those who are guilty of committing crimes rather than those who are innocent." "We will review and reform libel laws to protect freedom of speech, reduce costs and discourage libel tourism." "Wherever possible, we believe that personal data should be controlled by individual citizens themselves. We will strengthen the powers of the Information Commissioner to penalise any public body found guilty of mismanaging data."
  - mvalle 16y ago
    I stand corrected.
anigbrowl 16y ago
That's one reason I no longer live there. I had begun to dislike it by the mid-90s when I moved to California, and when I was back for a visit about a decade later the degree of surveillance seemed positively Orwellian. I'm a little surprised by how strong and wide-ranging these proposals are, but so far this Liberal-Conservative coalition is yielding grounds for optimism (also in other areas, but that's a more political discussion).

by mvalle 16y ago

ErrantX 16y ago

To be honest CCTV doesn't really worry us (well, not me at least). Not on buses (for example) which are after all private endeavours! Street CCTV may be another issue. I mean it doesn't concern me too much (we have a few CCTV cameras on the main street in my town, have done for years, and they have been useful) so long as it doesn't get expanded... But I'm tentatively hopeful. The ID cards were all but scrapped anyway (we fought very long over than one and luckily the prev government lost) but it is good to see that confirmed. Nick Clegg made a big point the other day of talking about scrapping the "Nanny State". If he really does then that will be extremely popular - it's been the most aggravating thing of the last few years. They also talked about increasing the number of coppers on the beat; I've said for a long time that should be a #1 policy for any government so it is good to see it talked about properly. (Incidentally the Lib Dems have really laid into the Digital Economy bill recently - they might win too!)

joe_fishfish 16y ago

The problem in Britain seems to be that largely people don't fear their government, they fear other people. Whether this is due to the class divisions in British society or a culture of hatred and fear promoted by the two most widely circulated newspapers in the country, I don't know. But I do agree that most people see the filming of public spaces as a good thing rather than a bad thing.

arethuza 16y ago
I think if you have been out in a UK city center on a Friday or Saturday night you might appreciate the problems the cameras are trying to solve. Not that I agree that the cameras are a good idea - but they are more a symptom of the darker elements of British culture that have pretty much always been there.

mike-cardwell 16y ago

"Obviously libdem" ... Go read the conservative 2010 manifesto: http://media.conservatives.s3.amazonaws.com/manifesto/cpmanifesto2010_lowres.pdf http://media.conservatives.s3.amazonaws.com/manifesto/cpmani... Most of it is in there... Nothing to do with the Libdems.

mike-cardwell 16y ago
A few quotes from the Conservative manifesto: "Labour’s approach to our personal privacy is the worst of all worlds – intrusive, ineffective and enormously expensive." "We will scrap ID cards, the National Identity Register and the Contactpoint database." "We will scale back Labour’s database state and protect the privacy of the public’s information." "We will introduce a balanced approach to the retention of people’s DNA and reform the criminal records system so it protects children without destroying trust." "The indefinite retention of innocent people’s DNA is unacceptable, yet DNA data provides a useful tool for solving crimes. We will legislate to make sure that our DNA database is used primarily to store information about those who are guilty of committing crimes rather than those who are innocent." "We will review and reform libel laws to protect freedom of speech, reduce costs and discourage libel tourism." "Wherever possible, we believe that personal data should be controlled by individual citizens themselves. We will strengthen the powers of the Information Commissioner to penalise any public body found guilty of mismanaging data."
- mvalle 16y ago
  I stand corrected.

anigbrowl 16y ago

That's one reason I no longer live there. I had begun to dislike it by the mid-90s when I moved to California, and when I was back for a visit about a decade later the degree of surveillance seemed positively Orwellian. I'm a little surprised by how strong and wide-ranging these proposals are, but so far this Liberal-Conservative coalition is yielding grounds for optimism (also in other areas, but that's a more political discussion).