4 ms·

Brits are completely ok with government surveillance but once The Google takes some pictures, it gets real!

patio11 18y ago
The idea is sort of rational: privacy isn't solely about your information being recorded, it is about your information being accessed and accessible. Honestly, if my entire life were put on photographs and stored on a computer at the NSA (no doubt sandwitched between the Ark and a microfilm showing what really happened to JFK), I really wouldn't care that much. Now, if it were searchable by Google Images, I'd pretty much die.
mechanical_fish 18y ago
These things might be related. The authorities in the UK seem to be fully committed to the notion that filming something on a digital camera gives you power over it. A lot of infrastructure has been built, and a lot of PR money spent, in the service of this magical principle. There are CCTV cameras everywhere, and everyone knows that they're a symbol of authority. Studies show, I believe, that the cameras don't accomplish much, especially when you calculate the marginal cost/benefit of adding still more cameras. The cops lobby for more cameras anyway, justifying them with professions of faith. If we all believe that a cop is watching, then it will be just like having a real cop standing there! That kind of environment takes its toll, psychologically. If you tell people over and over that a fuzzy digital image of their street is a powerful tool in the hands of a cop, you're also subtly suggesting that a fuzzy digital image of their street might be a powerful tool in the hands of the nameless criminals lurking on the scary Internet. Another, completely different theory: People take the opportunity to protest against Google's cameras because, when you protest against a government camera, it doesn't go away. Instead, you might get investigated or arrested. The Google van is a convenient scapegoat for people's general fear of centralized surveillance and loss of privacy. And both of these theories could be true at the same time! The subconscious is a mysterious thing.
- ionfish 18y ago
  > That kind of environment takes its toll, psychologically. This is very true. I am starting to seriously contemplate leaving the country, because it's becoming such an oppressive environment.
  - mechanical_fish 18y ago
    Well, be careful of the grass-is-always-greener phenomenon. Here in the USA cops aren't as addicted to cameras. Instead, they're addicted to tasers. I have never been tased, but I'm told that the experience makes you long for the relative bliss of being continuously photographed. Especially if the tasing induces heart failure, in which case the comprehensive photo coverage would come in very handy for your family's lawsuit.
    - ajju 18y ago
      I have a friend who agreed to being tased as a taser demonstration at some convention. What a dumb thing to do!
      - mechanical_fish 18y ago
        Yes. Never do this. The list of things that can happen to you starts with the absolutely certain ("excruciating pain") and meanders through the not-improbable ("nightmarish flashbacks" and "debilitating injury caused by your sudden collapse and involuntary writhing") on the way to the rare-but-possible ("instant death"). None of these things are fun.
    - likpok 18y ago
      I have never been tased, but I'm told that the experience makes you long for the relative bliss of being continuously photographed. And I have been told that being hit with pepper spray makes you long for the (much) shorter incapacitation of the taser.
      - mechanical_fish 18y ago
axod 18y ago
Government surveillance is an internet myth. The idea all the CCTVs in the UK are connected, and government controlled is quite laughable. They wouldn't be able to co-ordinate anything as complex as that. The vast majority of CCTV is locally owned, by individual business owners.

The idea is sort of rational: privacy isn't solely about your information being recorded, it is about your information being accessed and accessible. Honestly, if my entire life were put on photographs and stored on a computer at the NSA (no doubt sandwitched between the Ark and a microfilm showing what really happened to JFK), I really wouldn't care that much. Now, if it were searchable by Google Images, I'd pretty much die.

mechanical_fish 18y ago

These things might be related. The authorities in the UK seem to be fully committed to the notion that filming something on a digital camera gives you power over it. A lot of infrastructure has been built, and a lot of PR money spent, in the service of this magical principle. There are CCTV cameras everywhere, and everyone knows that they're a symbol of authority. Studies show, I believe, that the cameras don't accomplish much, especially when you calculate the marginal cost/benefit of adding still more cameras. The cops lobby for more cameras anyway, justifying them with professions of faith. If we all believe that a cop is watching, then it will be just like having a real cop standing there! That kind of environment takes its toll, psychologically. If you tell people over and over that a fuzzy digital image of their street is a powerful tool in the hands of a cop, you're also subtly suggesting that a fuzzy digital image of their street might be a powerful tool in the hands of the nameless criminals lurking on the scary Internet. Another, completely different theory: People take the opportunity to protest against Google's cameras because, when you protest against a government camera, it doesn't go away. Instead, you might get investigated or arrested. The Google van is a convenient scapegoat for people's general fear of centralized surveillance and loss of privacy. And both of these theories could be true at the same time! The subconscious is a mysterious thing.

ionfish 18y ago
> That kind of environment takes its toll, psychologically. This is very true. I am starting to seriously contemplate leaving the country, because it's becoming such an oppressive environment.
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  Well, be careful of the grass-is-always-greener phenomenon. Here in the USA cops aren't as addicted to cameras. Instead, they're addicted to tasers. I have never been tased, but I'm told that the experience makes you long for the relative bliss of being continuously photographed. Especially if the tasing induces heart failure, in which case the comprehensive photo coverage would come in very handy for your family's lawsuit.
  - ajju 18y ago
    I have a friend who agreed to being tased as a taser demonstration at some convention. What a dumb thing to do!
    - mechanical_fish 18y ago
      Yes. Never do this. The list of things that can happen to you starts with the absolutely certain ("excruciating pain") and meanders through the not-improbable ("nightmarish flashbacks" and "debilitating injury caused by your sudden collapse and involuntary writhing") on the way to the rare-but-possible ("instant death"). None of these things are fun.
  - likpok 18y ago
    I have never been tased, but I'm told that the experience makes you long for the relative bliss of being continuously photographed. And I have been told that being hit with pepper spray makes you long for the (much) shorter incapacitation of the taser.
    - mechanical_fish 18y ago

axod 18y ago

Government surveillance is an internet myth. The idea all the CCTVs in the UK are connected, and government controlled is quite laughable. They wouldn't be able to co-ordinate anything as complex as that. The vast majority of CCTV is locally owned, by individual business owners.