The mayor of New York City just visited London’s ring of steel, a system of thousands of cameras, which photograph London’s citizens and visitors, usually tens of times a day. The mayor is working up to installing such a system in New York. I understand the security that is intended. I just don’t understand the loss of privacy that will result. Privacy is a right that the citizens of the United States value highly.
I also have questions. Does such a system really prevent terrorists’ attacks? Are the terrorists, many of whom are prepared to go with their bomb, afraid of being seen on camera before demonstrating their imbecility? Certainly it is an aid after the fact, assuming the terrorists did not die as a result. Is the city able to organize its security resources in time to stop the attack? Who is watching the camera output? How many observers are required? Are they trained police officers who are now not available on the street to respond? Which is the better deterrent, a camera or the presence of the police? How are terrorists recognized? Is it a facial recognitions software program? How good are these programs? Is there racial profiling? How many false positives? Will innocent people be erroneously stopped? Will this change the way democracy is practiced in this country? Will we lose that which we seek to protect by protecting it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment