[Infowarrior] - Security cameras raise rights worry in NY: report

[Richard Forno]

Security cameras raise rights worry in NY: report
Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:20 PM ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=200
6-12-13T231656Z_01_N13491988_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-RIGHTS-CAMERAS.xml&src=rss&rpc
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The security cameras are watching, a New York rights
group warned on Wednesday.

Security cameras have increased fivefold in parts of New York City and have
become so pervasive that they threaten the rights of privacy, speech and
association, the New York Civil Liberties Union, or NYCLU, said in a report.

Moreover, there was no evidence the cameras deterred crime, the group said.

In 2005 there were 4,176 cameras in three districts of southern Manhattan,
up from 769 cameras in a 1998 survey, the report said.

"Unregulated video surveillance technology has already led to abuses in New
York City, including the police department's creation of visual dossiers on
people engaged in lawful street demonstrations and the voyeuristic
videotaping of individuals' private and intimate conduct," the group said.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A 1998 study conducted by the NYCLU found 2,397 video surveillance cameras
visible from street level in Manhattan. The report said that same number of
cameras can be now found in the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village and Soho
alone.

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