This is a rather interesting read after all the recent press and essays regarding the increased surveillance of society. I would have to agree that with the proliferation of cameras all over the world there is a better system of checks-and-balances with those who are supposed to be protecting us, but I'd still rather have more privacy altogether. Oh, if only the concept of ethics was enough to make people behave well...

] In the mid-'90s, when I began writing "The Transparent
] Society," it seemed dismaying to note that Great Britain
] had almost 150,000 CCD police cameras scanning public
] streets. Today, they number in the millions.
]
] In the United States, a similar proliferation, though
] just as rapid, has been somewhat masked by a different
] national tradition -- that of dispersed ownership. As
] pointed out by UC-San Diego researcher Mohan Trivedi,
] American constabularies have few cameras of their own.
] Instead, they rely on vast numbers of security monitors
] operated by small and large companies, banks, markets and
] private individuals, who scan ever larger swaths of urban
] landscape. Nearly all of the footage that helped solve
] the Oklahoma City bombing and the D.C. sniper episode --
] as well as documenting the events of 9/11 -- came from
] unofficial sources.
]
]
] This unique system can be both effective and inexpensive
] for state agencies, especially when the public is
] inclined to cooperate, as in searches for missing
] children. Still, there are many irksome drawbacks to
] officials who may want more pervasive and direct
] surveillance. For one thing, the present method relies
] upon high levels of mutual trust and goodwill between
] authorities and the owners of those cameras -- whether
] they be convenience-store corporations or
] videocam-equipped private citizens. Moreover, while many
] crimes are solved with help from private cameras, more
] police are also held accountable for well-documented
] lapses in professional behavior.
]
]
] This tattletale trend began with the infamous beating of
] Rodney King, more than a decade ago, and has continued at
] an accelerating pace. Among recently exposed events were
] those that aroused disgust (the tormenting of live birds
] in the Pilgrim's Pride slaughterhouse) and shook
] America's stature in the world (the prisoner abuse by
] jailers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq). Each time the
] lesson is the same one: that professionals should attend
] to their professionalism, or else the citizens and
] consumers who pay their wages will find out and --
] eventually -- hold them accountable.

We will watch the watchers