UK surveillance culture, ‘runaway’

Big Brother Watch, Britain’s leading campaign group defending individual privacy and civil liberties, has revealed that the real cost of installing CCTV cameras in Britain over the past four years saying it stands at more than GBP 515 million.

Despite the huge cost of the British government’s ‘haphazard and badly measured rush to spy on citizens,’ Big Brother Watch maintained that there is no evidence showing any decrease in crime due to the increase in surveillance.

In an interview with Sky News, Big Brother Watch director Nick Pickles said the information was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Condemning the British government’s ‘out-of-control surveillance culture,’ Pickles said: “There is no sense in councils pouring taxpayers’ money into CCTV if it is doing nothing to reduce crime.”

Furthermore, Pickles said that the money spent on the CCTV could have been used for deploying four thousand police officers on the streets at a time when the number of police officers in Britain has fallen to its lowest level for a decade.

The news follows reports about the British government’s plans to store the details of British public’s all online communications including every phone call, text message, and email.

The all-out invasion on the British public’s privacy comes as predictions have been made about a recurrence of the unprecedented unrest in August considering the dire situation of the British economy and employment.

ISH/HN/HE

Views: 0

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes