Monday, March 29, 2010

Time for - This Week in Spying on your Neighbors

Ah, remember the good old days when only the KGB and the East German Stasi were this interested in watching their citizens with such zeal?

Story 1: The Senate hearings into computer surveillance:

A special U.S. Senate hearing is expected in Philadelphia Monday to discuss the issue of remote computer surveillance.

Senator Arlen Specter, D-Pa., said the subcommittee on crime and drugs will examine federal laws concerning remote tracking software. Specter, the subcommittee chairman, said new legislation may be needed to address webcam surveillance.

The hearing comes in the wake of a laptop spying controversy in the Lower Merion School District.

Story 2: Video Surveillance deployed inside London Public Bathrooms where you have to pay 50p to pee.

You can imagine my surprise after I paid my 50pence to use the public bathroom, walked in and found myself staring at not just one but three ceiling mounted video surveillance cameras. I had to get real close to their enclosures to convince myself that I wasn’t seeing things. Not only was it really there, but it was a Pan-Tilt-Zoom model with a microphone to top it off. Must get some great noises coming from there. It has also been reported that London officials are now installing cameras with speakers to allow them to talk as well as see and listen. Perhaps its just me, but I had absolutely no idea that this was legal anywhere, let alone in downtown London, UK. Sure I knew that London has more cameras per square mile than any other country on the planet, but in bathrooms?! How are they getting away with that one? It is appalling! Read the rest of this entry »

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