The Watchers

So it appears we are the most surveilled nation. One CCTV for every 14 people in the UK. Every day there are up 300 images of each of us stored somewhere. Well, that's only the beginning!

Too add to the information from CCTV there are credit cards, every transaction tracked and localised, in real time. Store loyalty cards; tracking every item you buy, when and where you buy it. Oyster cards, tracing every journey you make on the underground or any bus around London. Your mobile phone, scanning across cells giving a rough picture of your movements. With GPS it could be better. Every phone call, every text, calling and called numbers stored for the moment the information might be useful. Everytime you log onto the net via your ISP your IP address is stored along with enough information to localise the connection geographically and in time. Send an e-mail and the full set of header information held who sent it, when, who too, how it was routed, what client was used etc. etc.

Are you getting the picture yet? The government certainly can. All this information is held about you, now. And more .... identity cards (coming soon at your expense), DNA banks, iris and retinal images, fingerprints records, tax returns, payment records, NHS data for medical and dental treatments, scolastic acheivements, records of which books you have taken from the library. It's all there. The amount of data currently held on any individual allows the most pervasive, complete and intrusive examination of their life without their knowledge, without their permission.

Maybe you think there are safeguards. Laws concerning privacy, appropriate access to data. Dream on! Just be sure ... someone, somewhere, is watching you.