A colleague of mine is working on this and could probably answer most of the questions. Unfortunately he's just left to go travelling for 3 weeks.
Please schedule the repost for at least 3 weeks time.:)
I'm a Londoner who works for a company that makes Linux based DVRs (sorry 4 the plug!) and have been affected by the recent terrorist attacks in that some people I know witnessed the attacks, and I have been involved in the retrieval of CCTV footage.
The way the emergency services have reacted here, especially the Police, has been incredible. The quick reactions from the fire and ambulance services undoubtedly saved lives and the CCTV systems on the public transport infrastructure (not all ours btw) have provided excellent images. The speed at which the Police and related services have performed the investigation has kept the baiting, news hungry public informed, and provided reassurance that the perpertrators will be caught (or have already gone to see "Allah"!).
However, watching the news discussion programmes on TV tonight I'm disturbed by the way the interviewers on the BBC, the public transport employees, and various others are pushing for increased security measures on public transport.
Apparently the New york and London undergrounds (aka subways!) are starting random searches of people. There is supposed to be no bias to whom they choose to search. On BBC news they showed a middle aged woman who looked like Anne Widdecombe being searched on the London Underground.
As unpleasant as it may be, you have to use profiles to determine who the likely trouble-makers are. A 60 year old white lady with a posh English accent isn't likely to be carrying a bomb in her handbag. Of course the same principle applies around the world.
I believe our liberties are almost in the perfect balance in the UK at the moment (let's not go into ID cards though!).
YES, there are lots of cameras in the UK but mostly in busy public places where they are needed most. If you don't want your privacy invaded, go to your house. That level of privacy should never be taken away from you.
We've got the balance just about right here, there is no need to change any policy. The chain of command for these groups will be traced back, maybe not to the top, but the quantity of evidence suggests that significant progress will be made.
These days people have camera phones and anyone can film you without you likely to notice. Have you seen the amount of camera-phone footage from the recent bombings? In some cases it's valuable evidence, but at the same time we have to realise that we are open to having ourselves filmed without our knowledge.
Londoners need not fear the terrorists any more than the impingement of their liberties.
Slashdot Mirror
A colleague of mine is working on this and could probably answer most of the questions. Unfortunately he's just left to go travelling for 3 weeks. Please schedule the repost for at least 3 weeks time. :)
I'm a Londoner who works for a company that makes Linux based DVRs (sorry 4 the plug!) and have been affected by the recent terrorist attacks in that some people I know witnessed the attacks, and I have been involved in the retrieval of CCTV footage.
The way the emergency services have reacted here, especially the Police, has been incredible. The quick reactions from the fire and ambulance services undoubtedly saved lives and the CCTV systems on the public transport infrastructure (not all ours btw) have provided excellent images. The speed at which the Police and related services have performed the investigation has kept the baiting, news hungry public informed, and provided reassurance that the perpertrators will be caught (or have already gone to see "Allah"!).
However, watching the news discussion programmes on TV tonight I'm disturbed by the way the interviewers on the BBC, the public transport employees, and various others are pushing for increased security measures on public transport.
Apparently the New york and London undergrounds (aka subways!) are starting random searches of people. There is supposed to be no bias to whom they choose to search. On BBC news they showed a middle aged woman who looked like Anne Widdecombe being searched on the London Underground.
As unpleasant as it may be, you have to use profiles to determine who the likely trouble-makers are. A 60 year old white lady with a posh English accent isn't likely to be carrying a bomb in her handbag. Of course the same principle applies around the world.
I believe our liberties are almost in the perfect balance in the UK at the moment (let's not go into ID cards though!).
YES, there are lots of cameras in the UK but mostly in busy public places where they are needed most. If you don't want your privacy invaded, go to your house. That level of privacy should never be taken away from you.
We've got the balance just about right here, there is no need to change any policy. The chain of command for these groups will be traced back, maybe not to the top, but the quantity of evidence suggests that significant progress will be made.
These days people have camera phones and anyone can film you without you likely to notice. Have you seen the amount of camera-phone footage from the recent bombings? In some cases it's valuable evidence, but at the same time we have to realise that we are open to having ourselves filmed without our knowledge.
Londoners need not fear the terrorists any more than the impingement of their liberties.