Alex Massie Alex Massie

CCTV Britain: Welcome to our Dystopia

Then again, if things are bad in Ireland, they’re also pretty ghastly here too. Consider this story from the Times today:

Britain, already one of the most snooped-upon nations on Earth, is about to become a nation of snoopers. A network of citizen crimewatchers will be given the chance of winning up to £1,000 by monitoring CCTV security cameras over the internet. The cameras’ owners will pay a fee to have users watch the footage. The scheme, Internet Eyes, is being promoted as a game and is expected to go “live” next month with a test run in Stratford-upon-Avon. Subscribers will be able to register free and will be given up to four cameras to monitor. Eventually the consortium behind the idea hopes to have internet users around the world focused on Britain’s 4.2 million security cameras, waiting to see and report a crime in return for cash prizes.

In a crazy was this makes some sort of sense but it’s a depressing commentary on modern Britain nonetheless.

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