Almost 10 years ago, the science fiction author David Brin put forth an interesting theory in Wired magazine. Brin pointed out that when surveillance cameras become ubiquitous, we will have two choices. We can either let them remain tools of the police, or we can take ownership, and let everyone see everything. Neither option seemed ideal, but Brin's point was that these surveillance cameras were coming. We could either embrace them and become a transparent society, or we could let them remain in the hands of the state. (Brin later turned the essay into a book, and Chapter 1 is here.)

Well it looks like that day is just about here. Technology is hardly the barrier anymore:

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years.
Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years.
The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts.
By next March a central database installed alongside the Police National Computer in Hendon, north London, will store the details of 35 million number-plate "reads" per day. These will include time, date and precise location, with camera sites monitored by global positioning satellites.

We see it now with the uproar over the NSA surveillance. Whatever you believe, the use of this technology is coming. We just need to decide who will control it.

Posted by Ginna Dowler
(Cross-posted to Gin and Tonic)