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Below: a Russia Today December 2011 news segment revealing that surveillance cameras - with audio pickups - are to be installed in every taxi in the city of Oxford. Opponents of the scheme have called it "a staggering invasion of privacy". The Oxford council says the cameras will have public safety benefits.
Below: eye in the sky; a May 2012 Seven news segment revealing Victoria Police interest in a system of unmanned drones fitted with cameras. Below: a 2009 Sky News (UK) segment; it reveals that serious concerns have been raised about whether CCTV is being used effectively to fight crime. Below: video of a 2007 talk by author James Bamford, on "Confronting the surveillance society". WARNING; this video is nearly one hour long, but well worth viewing for some revelations of the extent electronic surveillance is used - at least in the US - to gather information for use and storage by government agencies, including the National Security Agency. |
 Web links, documents |
In 2000, the New South Wales government released its Policy Statement and Guidelines for the Establishment and Implementation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in Public Places.
The full text can be accessed at http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/cpd/ll_cpd.nsf/vwfiles/cctv.pdf/$file/cctv.pdf
In April 2003, Dr Dean Wilson and Dr Adam Sutton presented a report titled 'Open-Street CCTV in Australia: A comparative study of establishment and operation' to the Criminology Research Council. The full text of this report can be accessed at http://www.criminologyresearchcouncil.gov.au/reports/200102-26.pdf
On May 18, 2006, Wired published an opinion piece by Bruce Schneier, the CTO of Counterpane Internet Security and the author of 'Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World'. Schneier argues that CCTV surveillance can pose a significant threat to privacy and that its expanded use should not be blindly accepted as necessary or desirable.
The full text of this comment can be found at http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2006/05/70886
On September 22, 2007, The Sydney Morning Herald published a background piece titled, 'There is nowhere to hide in Sydney' looking at the extent and implication of CCTV surveillance in that city.
Though not overtly an opinion piece, its attitude toward this surveillance is predominantly negative. The full text can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/there-is-nowhere-to-hide-in-sydney/2007/09/21/1189881777231.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
On March 17, 2008, The Independent published an opinion piece by Johann Hari who argues for the benefits of CCTV surveillance and suggests the privacy issues are minimal. The full text of this argument can be found at http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-this-strange-backlash-against-cctv-796807.html
On November 28, 2009, Perth Now reported on plans to give Western Australian police integrated access to all security cameras on government buildings.
The full text of this report can be found at http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/police-access-to-government-cctv-footage-sparks-rights-row/story-e6frg143-1225804954034
On October 1, 2012, The West Australian ran a report on calls from the Western Australian Police Union and the State Opposition for more CCTV surveillance in Perth.
The full text of this article can be found at http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/15001653/murder-spurs-push-for-more-city-cctv-cameras/
On October 8, 2012, ABC Radio's PM current affairs program broadcast a segment titled 'Questions over use of CCTV in crime prevention'. The segment included comments from a range of stakeholders on the issue.
A full transcript of the segment can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3606244.htm
On October 10, 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion piece by Dr Emmeline Taylor, a criminologist in the school of sociology at the Australian National University. Dr Taylor argues that the technology is less effective than is popularly believed and that it is very expensive.
The full text of this opinion piece can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/the-real-cost-of-cctv-might-stop-you-smiling-20121009-27b4m.html
On October 12, 2012, ABC Radio's current affairs program The World Today ran a segment titled 'When can the private be made public? We debate the experts'.
The segment presented a range of views on the issues surrounding the protection of privacy.
The full text of the segment can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2012/s3609373.htm
