Security Cameras

There is currently a lot of discussion on information and intelligence gathering related to anti-terrorist activities. It is a two-edged sword: How do you protect against terrorist attacks here in the U.S. and abroad while at the same time protecting individual rights and liberties? On the one hand, we pass Patriot Act laws knowing that they could be abused to invade the personal lives and liberties of completely innocent people. We are assured by the government that it will only be used for anti-terrorist activities. We subsequently find that not only terrorist suspects are tracked and eavesdropped upon, but also anyone with whom they have had contact. Using the six degrees of freedom theorem, that means it is very easy to justify eves-dropping on everyone in the world.

However you feel about the work of the NSA, warrant less eavesdropping, and domestic intelligence gathering, it is often difficult to relate it to our personal, day-to-day lives. Let's face it, hopefully the overwhelming number of us are law abiding citizens (of whatever country you are in) going about our daily lives, trying to make a living. Therefore, from a personal point of view, these programs are abstracts, far removed from what we do day-in and day-out. In addition to our "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," there is a reasonable expectation of privacy--personal privacy; communications privacy, and geographic (locational) privacy. We just don't think that any of this Patriot Act stuff applies to us.

It was this train of thought that drew my attention to the subject of cameras. Specifically, a lot of money has been allocated by the Department of Homeland Security on camera systems for tracking traffic through urban and suburban areas. Add to that the increased use of red light traffic enforcement through camera systems. Also don't forget camera systems that record your vehicle as it passes through highway toll plazas. And finally, most organizations have camera systems that track entry and exit of individuals in the organization--whether that company is a local quick-stop market, a bank, a department store, a shopping mall, or a corporate campus, not to mention the ATM you use.

So, how private are our lives today? As one example, I counted the number of cameras that I pass by each day going to and coming from work. I travel almost exactly 6 miles to work, a total 12 miles round-trip. As it happens, I take a different route home because traffic patterns are different in the evening.

The result of the tally: going to work I pass 35 intersection cameras and 13 private cameras that seem to have a view of the streets. Coming home from work, I pass 38 intersection cameras and 9 private cameras that seem to have a view of the streets. That works out to:

• Going to work, 8 cameras per mile or 1 camera every 660 feet
• Coming home from work, 7.8 cameras per mile or 1 camera every 674 feet

Remember, these cameras view all traffic, not just terrorist suspects. They're watching 24/7. The odds of them actually capturing the image of a terrorist suspect is probably infinitesimally small. The odds of them catching me and my fellow innocent citizens is 100 percent.