Almost a year ago, last October, I wrote about "Internet Eyes":
"Internet Eyes (a private company) will offer up to £1,000 if viewers spot shoplifting or other crimes in progress, on the dubious pretext of combining crime prevention with the incentive of winning money.
The scheme is due to go live in Stratford-upon-Avon in November, and will stream live footage to subscribers' home computers from CCTV cameras installed in shops and other businesses.
If viewers see a crime in progress, they can press a button to alert store detectives and collect points worth up to £1,000."
A loyal reader has kindly advised me that Internet Eyes has been set up (according to "Get Wokingham") to monitor the store feed from Alworths, a shop in Wokingham.
Seemingly an investigation into the town's existing CCTV network had shown the camera feed was going back to a monitoring station in Reading, but no-one was watching it permanently.
CCTV, in theory, sounds great as a "crime prevention" tool.
However, it does not prevent crime, it merely observes the crime taking place. Unless someone in the monitoring station is alert enough, and the police quick enough, the criminals have already done their dirty deed and scarpered before the tapes are reviewed.
Allowing members of the public to access/use the feed as a form of "game show" is positively dangerous wrt privacy issues, and will bring out the very worst aspects of human nature (wrt snooping and nosiness).
This is a snoopers charter, there are more than enough saddos who have nothing better to do than watch other people doing "very little" (eg the "reality" show Big Brother).
We will become a nation of snoopers!
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I hope their vetting procedure is up to snuff or they'll be opening up whole new realms to the internet trolls.
ReplyDeletetheir vetting is up to scratch, you ACTUALLY HAVE TO PAY to become a snooper!!
ReplyDeleteA nation of snoopers and grasses...I live in Wokingham and feel rather uneasy that, whilst I am going about my lawful business, some nosey chav may be watching my every move....I wonder if this operation goes against privacy and data protection laws? More worrying, having followed the link to Net Eyes, the company will allow any citizen of the EUSSR to join the scheme....Eurobigbrother anyone?
ReplyDeleteI see that a police farce(sic) are trying out a scheme where drivers report each other.....The reports will be stored on a database and, any driver that gets reported twice will either receive a letter of advice or a visit as having two allegations against them, they can be classed as a repeat offender......Stalin would be impressed.
We are becoming a nasty place to be and anyone fit and young enough to do so, I would advise to leave "Monkey Island" as Europe calls us, as soon as possible while you still can.
As I understand it Viewers are unable to monitor premises within the same postcode prefix and as states within their registration pages this service is only open to members of the EU.
ReplyDeleteThis they state is due to legislation regarding the Data Protection Act 1998 -
''This is a snoopers charter, there are more than enough saddos who have nothing better to do than watch other people doing "very little" (eg the "reality" show Big Brother).''
ReplyDeleteOn second thoughts Ken it's not such a bad idea. All the 'customers' at my place of work have nothing better to do than watch Big Bro. rubbish and they are all avid fans. So if we also gave them an internet link you really could 'set a thief to catch a thief' ;o)
If they are really serious about crime prevention, there is a much more effective way of doing so: put more policemen on the beat --- and I mean REAL policemen, not these useless PCSOs, which are a waste of space. Admittedly, it will require expenditure, but this will be offset by the resulting crime reduction. However, I suspect this scheme is just an excuse to pry even more into our lives and to 'divide and rule' by encouraging people to become paid informants. This practice was rife in Rome, especially during the reigns of some of the less 'enlightened' emperors and is certainly not the kind of behaviour one would expect in a free society or a democracy!
ReplyDeleteCCTV is more about recording the event to be used as evidence than it is about real time detection. Most people are oblivious to it now. Cameras get smaller and are better hidden.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the scheme will fall flat because you have to pay and it will get boring. Expect it to be changed to security companies 'hiring' people to watch and paying them per detection.
What really is the difference between a paid nosey parker in a office watching CCTV and several nosey parkers at home watching it on a corner of their TV whilst watching Jeremy Kyle?
I think it's a good idea. We're already the most snooped-upon nation. It's time for the snoopees to get a chance to be snoopers.
ReplyDeleteThis will be a boon to criminals,who wish to know what kind of locks,alarms etc the place of business has,where the take is kept,it seems to me that because the "police" are so usless,our masters are trying to make us all police and flog the videos of any wrongdoing to the tele,since most of what we see these days is crime as entertainment,and that is a particularly disgusting filthy communist concept.
ReplyDeleteGet a life please i aint being funny but this give the chance to people like you guys not to worry if you are realbuisnessmen!!! dont you guys agree???g
ReplyDelete