How Public Safety Gets Turned Upside-Down When Big Brother is Watching.

When big brother is watching, be ready for some truly bizarre surprises.

Not only are governments getting disturbingly adept at garnering information of all sorts on private citizens, but they are also becoming expert in manipulating that data.

Video surveillance for example has been a recognized fact for many years, like it or not, but now watchers can plug images into software programs where the goal is to instantly recognize an individual in a crowd.

This latest bit of wizardry works by analyzing things like physical height and the way that you walk, referred to as your gait DNA.

When such software systems are perfected, they should be able to instantly pull up a face on the screen matching the individual that has been recognized by the way that they walk.

Even more bizarre is the indications from US government representatives that opinion polls want are in favor to the tune of 75% of more surveillance, not less.

Supposing this information to be true, the question is then why there would be such a massive public swing towards being monitored even more.

A Surveillance Camera Per Citizen?

It is no secret that governments have often in the past suggested to the people that they are under threat from outside enemies, and used the corresponding paranoia to justify increases in surveillance and corresponding reductions in personal liberty.

However, such systems are not immune to either sabotage or subversive use.

However well designed the security is for such systems, however noble the stated goals of protecting citizens and ensuring peace in our time, there is always a hole to be exploited.

Sometimes the hole is knowingly built in by the organization that builds the system, especially when big brother is watching.

In the U.K., for a population of some 60 million people, there are four million CCTV cameras monitoring the general public. U.S. government officials applaud this use of technology, suggesting that the same system allowed the police to apprehend terrorists directly following the 2005 London bombings.

It is interesting to note that when the IRA bombing campaigns were in operation, there were no Islamic terrorist bombings.

Now that the IRA has moved to peaceful opposition, it seems that the new bombers have moved in to fill a vacuum.

The question is, what happens if Islamic groups also move to peaceful opposition?

Big Brother Can Watch and Move Around as Well Now

Having an “enemy without” has historically been a good ploy for governments.

Having bad guys” to deal with justifies more surveillance, more control and more opacity when big brother is watching.

Britain is a relatively small country compared to the U.S., in terms of land surface area.

Is the U.S. too big for the massive CCTV installation that the British public must now face?

No problem, the U.S. government has other solutions up its sleeve.

Unmanned aircraft with surveillance cameras are already reality.

Techniques like these are being used in Baghdad today, albeit on a restricted basis.

When you consider that such aircraft might be able to stay airborne for as long as five years (yes, you read that correctly – five years), land surface area becomes a secondary consideration.

Hi, Big Brother Sent Me to Watch You

Data like money is a neutral entity; it’s what you do with it that counts.

The U.S. is rife with documented stories of FBI agents contacting individuals in efforts to find out more about events or people with whom these individuals are linked.

This ranges from surprise visits at home to retired workers who spoke out strongly against government policy in their local club, to volunteer workers whose “assistance” is solicited by the government agency concerned to gather data on members of different organizations.

It is sometimes difficult to know whether the greater risk when big brother is watching is of a terrorist group taking over the system, or big brother himself running amok.