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Oxford City Council Mandates CCTV Cameras In Taxies by 2015

Posted by Unknown on from the you-have-nothing-to-hide-winston dept.

First time accepted submitter Beowulf878 writes "In yet another data-collection feast by the government in the UK, a local council has proposed fitting at least one CCTV camera per taxi to record every conversation. Obviously the reason given is our own safety. Thoughts?"

10 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Well, I have one.... by RobinEggs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Obviously we can't have a discussion without the summary all but telling us how we're supposed to react.

    Thoughts?

    1. Re:Well, I have one.... by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I live in London. I cannot walk three miles and be out of range of a TV camera once I leave my home. I am not sure what I am safe from.

      My previous house was on a street known as "the Murder Mile" - it was fhe scene of two well known incidents: one in which one policeman shot another, and the other in which a policeman shot a man carying a table leg, in the mistaken belief it was a shotgun.

      A lot of people round here believe the police are every bit as dangerous as the drug dealers, hence the rioting.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  2. Firearms Rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    bet you're missing them now, aren't you.

    1. Re:Firearms Rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not like you Americans are any better off, with your firearms rights. I've yet to hear of a single firearm being turned on a police officer who's assaulting a citizen who has offered no resistance at all, during the Occupy protests.

  3. The only safety a government cares about . . . by Mitchell314 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    is its own.

    --
    I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
  4. How many taxi drivers are robbed? by couchslug · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In a society where crime isn't really "punished", the only other deterrent must be a police state where there is no sanctuary.

    As societies must include anyone who wants to do anything they like and must admit anyone from anywhere regardless of their culture, keeping order becomes more challenging because the only alternative to (vanishing) SELF-discipline is IMPOSED discipline.

    This sucks, but is better than the Clockwork Orange world of no order at all.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    1. Re:How many taxi drivers are robbed? by sqrt(2) · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I prefer to take a page from socialism, and a page from libertarianism, and create a new book that works better than either one alone. Nothing in your personal life affects me, so I should have no say over it. I don't care who you marry, have sex with, what you put in your body or if you end your life. But your economic life effects me and everyone else in this society, so it should be partially regulated. With the right balance, and the a healthy amount of vigilance by the populace, this system can work. It's worked in the past, it works now, it can work for our future.

      --
      If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
  5. Wow by TennCasey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It never ceases to amaze me just how accurate George Orwell was about where England was going.

  6. Re:stop taking taxis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    we've got people protesting that bankers make too much money. those very same protesters have never counted just how much of their own money they've paid to those same bankers.

    if you don't want to be on camera, stop going to the cameras.

    yeah, you'll lose the benefits of those services. of course. welcome to making choices. if it's important to you, you'll make it appropriately.

    so stop complaining. start noticing that you've chosen to take the taxi with the camera. you've chosen to take the subway with the camera. you've chosen to purchase the car with the limiter. you could have walked, you could have cycled, and you coudl have built your own car.

    make decisions; actively.

    I hope this is sarcasm.

    There are thousands of cameras in public spaces to monitor pedestrians and cyclists in London. If you don't want to be recorded on CCTV, you have to make the choice to never go outside again.

  7. Re:Yes there are by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is not about secrets. It's about opinions that those with access to the footage might not like. Effectively you cannot voice any controversial thoughts anywhere, because you are always under surveillance. You always have to watch what you say because someone somewhere is recording and archiving it.