Rant of the Day: Alec Saunders on security cameras

Alec Saunders has a good argument against security cameras in public spaces. Vernon White, Ottawa’s new police chief, wants to install cameras in the downtown core to help cut crime. Here’s a sampling of Alec’s post, titled Ottawa’s Panopticon :

Has it really come to this? Are we at the point where we are willing to completely abandon any semblance of privacy to an Orwellian vision of efficient policing?

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Chief White proposes to make Ottawa a virtual panopticon, where even the slightest transgression can be observed by the authorities, and where the mere presence of surveillance will curtail “illegal” acts. Like lemmings to the cliff, we are abandoning all pretense of liberty in exchange for the dubious benefit of “security”. Read more…

** Related: ** Ottawa Blogs Guide