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Britain 'becoming a surveillance society'
Britain 'becoming a surveillance society'
2.08, Thu Nov 2 2006
Britain is becoming a "surveillance society", a new report has warned.
The Government's Information Commissioner Richard Thomas claims that people's lives will be tracked through CCTV, analysis of buying habits and through their travel movements at an increased rate over the next decade.
Shoppers may be scanned as they enter stores, schools could bring in cards allowing parents to monitor what their children eat, and jobs may be refused to applicants who are seen as a health risk.
The techniques are said to benefit the typical UK family in some cases, but in others it is "personally threatening" and has wider consequences.
The report also says that surveillance can lead to the loss of individuals' anonymity and privacy in different spheres of their lives.
Mr Thomas said: "Today I fear that we are in fact waking up to a surveillance society that is already all around us."
But he did argue that surveillance could help fight terrorism, crime and improve access to public services.
A Department for Constitutional Affairs spokesman said the challenge was to "get the balance right" between sharing information responsibly and securely and respecting the citizen's rights.
He said: "Massive social and technological advances have occurred in the last few decades and will continue in the years to come.
"We must rise to the challenges and seize the opportunities it provides for individual citizens and society as a whole."
He said a citizen "should be able to give their information once" and it should "be kept and shared where they want that to happen for convenience".
There should be "transparency" - so that people know how their information will be used and shared when they give it and protection.
The spokesman the Government has a responsibility to protect the vulnerable and fight crime.
www.itv.com
2.08, Thu Nov 2 2006
Britain is becoming a "surveillance society", a new report has warned.
The Government's Information Commissioner Richard Thomas claims that people's lives will be tracked through CCTV, analysis of buying habits and through their travel movements at an increased rate over the next decade.
Shoppers may be scanned as they enter stores, schools could bring in cards allowing parents to monitor what their children eat, and jobs may be refused to applicants who are seen as a health risk.
The techniques are said to benefit the typical UK family in some cases, but in others it is "personally threatening" and has wider consequences.
The report also says that surveillance can lead to the loss of individuals' anonymity and privacy in different spheres of their lives.
Mr Thomas said: "Today I fear that we are in fact waking up to a surveillance society that is already all around us."
But he did argue that surveillance could help fight terrorism, crime and improve access to public services.
A Department for Constitutional Affairs spokesman said the challenge was to "get the balance right" between sharing information responsibly and securely and respecting the citizen's rights.
He said: "Massive social and technological advances have occurred in the last few decades and will continue in the years to come.
"We must rise to the challenges and seize the opportunities it provides for individual citizens and society as a whole."
He said a citizen "should be able to give their information once" and it should "be kept and shared where they want that to happen for convenience".
There should be "transparency" - so that people know how their information will be used and shared when they give it and protection.
The spokesman the Government has a responsibility to protect the vulnerable and fight crime.
www.itv.com