I just wanted to say, now that this thread is winding down, thanks all, it has been mighty entertaining
.
I've been lurking but not posting because I've said my piece (which is much the same as Dana's - inside your house is private, and cameras are bad; on the street is public, and cameras are ok there).
And especially, it was great to see a civil discussion - a few claws came out but comparing to some other threads there was a near-complete absence of name calling, abuse and personal attacks.
Wow, grown-ups.
I can't help but notice that Y-chromosomes were rather scarce in this thread. Coincidence? Unlikely.
Two anecdotes:
CCTV: I used to live on campus where there was a slowly growing network of cameras. Almost everyone was clamouring for new cameras because there was constant petty crime. They came slowly for budget reasons. The only inconvenience to me was when I wanted to meet my dealer, we had to be a little careful and discrete about handovers. Easy to manage.
DNA: My brother's house was burgled. The ransacked his house, pinched his beer, stole his Commodore (manly V8-engine car) kicked his dog and left. Ali will understand this is a bloody outrage in Australia. But they also left a cigarette butt in the garden ... He found it weeks later, turned it in ...DNA database ... ding! Only people convicted of a crime get sampled. Only samples related to a crime can be checked against the database. With these safeguards, I am okay with DNA databases.
But! I am watching to make sure these safeguards remain.