Spy camera on a hill

[cheeni]

[x-posted to cyberabad]

Hyderabad gets its own version of the eye-in-the-sky, a set of 4 spy cameras, according to this Hindu article.

"The uniqueness of the system is its capability to view images during the night and the face of a person or number of a vehicle as far as six km. The cameras also help to view and record images till a distance of 15 km."

The cameras are pointed at the city from atop a building at the edge of the city and remotely controlled via an IP circuit. Fancy technology indeed, but there is no mention of accountability in all that journalistic prose. As a society we need to grow a healthy distrust of all things "big-brotherish" to remain free and democratic. The lesser we question institutional safeguards, the more the chances become that there will exist none.

The guardians of the law have a duty to keep the city safe, but there is also a question of ensuring that the technology will not be misused. How does this prevent the creation of a very powerful voyeur cam? Are we sanctioning the creation of unlimited copies of camera recordings to be collected and stored? Who will have access to these recordings? Our laws that protect your right to private phone conversations were certainly not created at a time when such fancy technology could be envisaged. Whither are the debates that should drive this decision? There are important questions to be answered before the city plonks down serious cash that could just as well be used to pave the roads on my morning commute to make it a little less worse.

[Update: Popular mechanics has a really nice story on this general phenomenon]

Comments

[udhay.livejournal.com]

I assume you're familiar with David Brin's writings on the topic?