[Infowarrior] - UK: CCTVs in homes?

[Richard Forno]

(c/o AJ R)

Britain To Put CCTV Cameras Inside Private Homes
	• By Charlie Sorrel
	• August 3, 2009  |
	• 8:36 am  |

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/britain-to-put-cctv-cameras-inside-private-homes/
-Brit, I’m well aware of the authorities’ love of surveillance and  
snooping, but even I, a pessimistic cynic, am amazed by the  
governments latest plan: to install Orwell’s telescreens in 20,000  
homes.

£400 million ($668 million) will be spend on installing and monitoring  
CCTV cameras in the homes of private citizens. Why? To make sure the  
kids are doing their homework, going to bed early and eating their  
vegetables. The scheme has, astonishingly, already been running in  
2,000 family homes. The government’s “children’s secretary” Ed Balls  
is behind the plan, which is aimed at problem, antisocial families.  
The idea is that, if a child has a more stable home life, he or she  
will be less likely to stray into crime and drugs.

It gets worse. The government is also maintaining a private army,  
incredibly not called “Thought Police”, which will “be sent round to  
carry out home checks,” according to the Sunday Express. And in a  
scheme which firmly cements the nation’s reputation as a “nanny  
state”, the kids and their families will be forced to sign “behavior  
contracts” which will “set out parents’ duties to ensure children  
behave and do their homework.”

And remember, this is the left-wing government. The Shadow Home  
Secretary Chris Grayling, batting for the conservatives, thinks these  
plans are “too little, and too late,” implying that even more  
obtrusive work needs to be done. Rumors that a new detention center,  
named Room 101, is being constructed inside the Ministry of Love are  
unconfirmed.

UPDATE: Further research shows that the Express didn’t quite have all  
its facts straight. This scheme is active, and the numbers are fairly  
accurate (if estimated), but the mentions of actual cameras in  
people’s homes are exaggerated. The truth is that the scheme can take  
the most troublesome families out of their homes and move them,  
temporarily, to a neutral, government-run compound. Here they will be  
under 24-hour supervision. CCTV cameras are not specifically  
mentioned, not are they denied, but 24-hour “supervision” certainly  
doesn’t rule this out from the camera-loving Brits.

It remains, though, that this is still excessively intrusive into the  
private lives of citizens, cameras or not. I have added links to the  
source and also more reliable reports. Thanks to everyone who wrote in.