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Quis Custodiat Custodes (Who watches the watchers)
Living in the surveillsance society. Governments keep announcing plans to increase the surveillance ability of security forces, the latest outrage being the proposal that military drones of the kind used to kill civilians in Afghnistan and Pakistan be deployed to overfly British cities taking high definition photos of everyday life.

Quis Custodiat Custodes (Who Watches The Watchers), Life In The Surveillance Society.
by Ian R Thorpe
2010-01-23
CREATIVE COMMONS: Attribute, non commercial, no derivs.
KEYWORDS: surveillance, society, security, terror, terrorism, police, policing, crime, government, cctv, cameras, privacy, humour, humor, satire

by ianrthorpe @ 2007-11-01 – 19:44:59 Who watches the watchers? Who is watching us and who is watching them watching us? One of the great public debates Mr. Brown and his chums will not be hosting over the next few months centres on the question of whether the proliferation of CCTV cameras is actually doing anything to reduce crime. The cameras are hardly inconspicuous so can the criminals not just look for areas where they are not on camera?

The most recent idea from the government and their friends who have a fondness for institutionalised lifestyles, ornate uniforms and jackboots is that having already covered the entire nation in CCTV cameras for the stated reason of making us feel safer in the streets the government ought to adapt unmanned military drones of the type used to attack civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan so they can be used to overfly British cities use their high definition still and video camera equipment to keep an eye on us all as we go about the private but mostly lawful business of living our lives.

Does surveillance make us safer or is it just a monstrous invasion of privacy that we all must endure because the government wants to catch the votes of Daily Mail Readers?

Will we stop asking questions in this dramatic tone and get on with the article any time soon?

You will be pleased to know that Boggart Blog has had a team of intrepid investigative journalists (well BBC Reporter) on the streets trying to find out.

Our reporter spoke to a small businessman from Slough, Mr. D.M. Reader, who told us, “I’ve no time for these namby-pamby, weirdie - beardie, gypsy - loving liberal Marxist do-gooders. We should welcome cameras, but not in my back yard. They keep us safe in our homes. Of course we should insist they are operated for profit by private security firms. Asking taxpayers to fund policing is Bolshevik.”

When we asked Mr. Reader how he felt about the potential for invasion of privacy he said, “If people cannot afford to pay for privacy they don’t deserve it. And what is more, if people don’t want to be filmed doing something they probably should not be doing it. Law abiding citizens have nothing to fear from surveillance. Let’s have more cameras I say.

Mr. Readers companion Mrs. Marie D. Slutt said, “I think there are limits, after all we would not want CCTV in the Golf Club car park would we Doug.

Mr. Reader became agitated and uncooperative, telling Mrs. Slutt, “You shut your fat mouth, stupid tart.”

He then dragged the protesting Marie away, turning to shout at out reporter, “You’ve no right prying into the private lives of decent people, you tabloid scum. People like you need spikes rammed through their heads.”

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