Addresses Publisher’s View on Cameras

To The Editor:
Perhaps Publisher Art Hall doesn’t care you don’t care about non-governmental entities (i.e. privately owned and operated cameras) having surveillance, but he can simply look up and around as he goes about his daily business to see hundreds of cameras that have already been installed and are operating. Most of these cameras are located in businesses for their own security, but the field of view of the camera can, and in most cases does, cover public roads and sidewalks. We are already being, have been, and will continue to be watched by the unblinking eye of the camera most everywhere we go. There is almost no need for governments to set up surveillance cameras; all they need do is ask or subpoena the owner for the footage.
Hall raised the specter of “Big Brother,” George Orwell’s mythic omnipotent, omniscient centralized government. Guess what? Big Brother is here but he doesn’t spend all of his time in Washington, D.C. Big business has filled the shoes of Big Brother very ably. We may not realize it, but Google has kept records of every Internet search we have ever made, including personally identifiable information.
Facebook knows who our friends and acquaintances are, what products we use, what we, our family and friends look like and we don’t even have to be a member of Facebook to have our likeness auto tagged whenever someone who is there gets our face in the background of our family photo.
Companies like Groupon and Living Social, not to mention our local grocery store, knows where we shop, what we buy and how often we’ll be likely to be found there. And we’re worried about a few traffic cameras.
If, as Middle Township claims, they are trying to improve traffic safety I would like to see signs posted to the effect that the intersection has been equipped with traffic safety cameras. If they have installed cameras at areas other than intersections, they should post signs to the effect that this area is being watched for aggressive drivers or whatever. I feel, and I hope he would agree with me, putting up cameras to watch drivers without warnings is more of a money grab rather than a safety campaign.
The New York Civil Liberties Union (and yes, I know they’re a bunch of hippies, commies and radicals) has posted a report on the proliferation of cameras in NYC. It may be found by visiting http://www.nyclu.org/pdfs/surveillance_cams_report_121306.pdf
It is outdated at this point but makes interesting reading.
ROBERT POST
Villas