How does that fit with your view that we are going to hell in a handbasket and nobody cares?

You do realise that this is not really an issue regarding CCTV (despite the comment from Liberty who are a pressure group within Britain who oppose CCTV) this is an issue re not properly screening the features of a man who made a suicide attempt in a public place?

I don't see anything in that article which suggests the Judge disagrees with CCTV.

Not to get involved in this debate one way or another, but this article says that "There are up to 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain - about one for every 14 people."

you mean the bad guys don't wear balaclavas? I can't believe that! They all wear them over here. Except the ones that're so drug fucked they forgot.

It's possible that I misheard. Perhaps they were talking about a particular section of a grid or something?

I'm sure the poms here can give us the facts anyway. ;) Besides, I did say I thought there'd be more, so at least I can content myself with that.

That ruling is about the use of footage, not about where the camera is. I wholly agree that such footage should be protected.

Christ on a bike Cic. Are you saying you are inside Britain?

you lasted longer than me Dana.

I appreciated your points and I agree that Cic was being insulting towards you for no reason. She does it to me also which I why I dropped out of this debate (in any meaningful way).

Guidelines. The judge is suggesting that unless privacy is protected by law, there should be stricter guidelines. he has not said CCTV are dangerous and should be fought against.

It is standard practice in this country to disguise people's faces if they are being shown on TV or in newspapers, unless the footage is being shown to help apprehend a criminal (e.g the TV show crimewatch may show cctv from inside a shop during a robbery), or permission is sought and given. What went wrong on this occassion is that CCTV footage was shown in which this gentleman's face had not been properly disguised.

In what way is this a route to a Big Brother state?

I'd also like to point out that the CCTV in question was placed by a local Council as part of its LAA (Local Area Agreement), a document which is available for any citizen to read and comment on. IN most areas of the country, Councils are struggling with the fact that properly managed CCTV is expensive and yet their constituents want more of them.

Cic, I said you were an outsider as in you have an outsider's perspective on Britain. In much the same way I have an outsider's perspective on America. On an intellectual level I understand the American approach to gun laws and medical provision. On a gut level I do not fully understand it. These things clash with my cultural understanding of the world. They do not fit into my mentalite.

Ali, just so your post doesn't look out of context, I want to point out to people that I have edited the preceding post :P

I think my point as a response to your post is still pretty clear mate. ;)

*chuckles* good good, just wanted to be sure :)

I'm sorry I was refering to your own watch-dog groups....forget it.

She had to erase the post because I'm not insulting anyone. I'm not even talking to anyone in this thread right now but DanaC. But we'll close that out as well.

*bangs head against a brick wal then walks off with bleeding forehead*

Hang on no. Before I go. I edited that post because in it I said I wasn't going to talk to you any more. I suggested that you are the one refusing to step outside your 'cultural closet' because every time I try to explain to you what the British perspective on CCTV is, you tell me I am blindly tripping down a path towards a Big Brother state.

I was far too vehement. I do not believe I was particularly insulting, certainly not as insulting as I am capable of being. I did however use this phrase:

When will enough be enough? Right fucking now.

I am repeating that phrase because I think it adequately sums up how I feel right now.

Consider this subject closed as far as I am concerned.

But don't you see that that speaks volumes? I've posted, Zen and Ali have posted (being subjects of a similar "police state") and yet you refuse to believe this has anything to do with the values with which you were brought up?

It's not a personal attack Cicero. We are not saying you are some sort of dumb American. We are just trying to agree to disagree without mudslinging. You may notice the non-Americans keep a low profile in the gun laws threads.

It's so weird seeing all the CCTV cameras around. It's so odd that my mind has mapped them out. I think I know upwards of 75% of the cameras within a one mile radius of my dorm. My brain has become fixated on the stupid things.

I think the strange thing for me is that they're all linked to the same organisation. In the States they are mostly privately owned, even if they are centrally monitored by the likes of ADT.

The ones you know about are :P Have you talked to anybody about them? Just wondering if you'd got any opinions from others.