I think this was semi-confirmed by a London paper recently as council parking surveillance vehicles; several defendants in a parking-fine case successfully got their fines overturned as there were no signs nearby warning of CCTV or Traffic Cameras, etc.
I'm surprised this surprises you. Egregious violations of freedom and privacy have been going on in the UK for years now. This is just another step towards a full-on totalitarian form of government. It's time the UK broke into civil war, or at least blew some shit up, and put an end to the corrupt government's stronghold on their rights.
That's just my opinion, speaking as someone who only sees the UK from an outsider's perspective. The US states are likely to tolerate much less before throwing a fit...at least I hope.
How is this being sold to the UK public, or are they just oblivious? I keep reading these articles, and they don't seem to match my foreigner's (Canadian) conception of the UK. It seems very strange and not-British to me. What are your thoughts?
As an Englishman, it actually pisses me off a little to see the persistent stories on Reddit etc ranting about how many cameras there are in the UK and how we're all being monitored etc etc etc.
Look at this 'story' - It's basically "There's some vans around with cameras on, I don't know what they are". That's seriously not newsworthy, or worrying in the least. Who cares? really...
It's just FUD. Shop owners all bought CCTV systems in the 80s to protect against theft. They're usually hooked up to a video tape cycling through. Additionally, we have tons of speed cameras for cars, and now the congestion charge cameras in London.
The reality is pretty boring. Pretty much everyone in the UK is against speed cameras, but they make a lot of money :/
Why would the government monitor civilians, when they can monitor cars and make money out of people speeding/parking wrongly/etc etc
Well the mere fact that they spend so much time, and make money to artificially lower taxes is what's disturbing. Every pound that they make isn't being given to them through a government budget, essentially turning them into a semi-private organisation as they no longer have public safety in mind, they have profit in mind.
That's been evident for a long time in the UK. I grew up in a small town, and even there you could rely on seeing a few cops that were always helpful, but that's since gone. I haven't seen an officer on the street for over 5 years yet the number of speed cameras in the area has gone through the roof. I don't really see how this is making me as a civilian safer, because cops who watched the side walks have been replaced with cameras that watch the roads.
Keep on hoping. As long as there are ballgames on TV and McDonalds is open I highly doubt anybody would get off their chairs to do anything. And that does not just go for the US.
Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, it's just what's expected. As long as people have 'theirs' why revolt ? The barrier to revolution is about as high as the satisfaction level of the majority of the people will allow it to be.
Piss off too many people and there is trouble for sure, as long as most people can do what they think they want you can get away with lots.
