From: Zero Powers (zero_powers@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Apr 01 2000 - 20:40:56 MST
>From: "Mike Steven" <mikesteven@ndirect.co.uk>
>
>Michael S. Lorrey <retroman@turbont.net> wrote:
> > > > Number of cameras necessary to cover every square meter of the dry
>land
> > > > on the planet:
> > > > 20,000,000,000,000, or 20 trillion cameras
<lots of ranting about the non-feasibility of ubiquitous surveillance
snipped>
It might help to keep in mind a couple of things:
There are lots of ways to skin a cat. Ubiquitous surveillance does not
necessarily mean that there will be a Sony camcorder installed every square
20 feet all over the surface of the globe, or that the cameras which are
deployed will necessarily be constantly recording every minute of every day.
It would make more sense to have only 1 or 2 cameras per person (worn on
the wrist--watch style, or perhaps following you around like a gnat, or
pointing at you from satellites overhead, or perhaps any one of several
other ways). This would limit the cameras now to approx. 12 billion max
(*significantly* less than 20 trillion).
Moreover if you fixed it so that the cameras only started "rolling" when the
subject did certain specified activities (say, communicating or interacting
with a person, computer or near-anything device) you could save oodles of
recording time (and storage space).
But probably the biggest thing to keep in mind is that we are talking about
tomorrow's problems, tomorrow's solutions and *tomorrow's* technology. So
even if this type of surveillance is not available with today's technology,
that has little bearing on whether it will be feasible when its needed. And
once we get to, or even close to, the singularity *all* bets are off
regarding what technology will and will not be able to do.
Lastly, for those on the list who just absolutely *can't* wrap their minds
around the fact that a great deal of the surveillance technology we have
been discussing is, if not available today, just around the corner, I might
suggest this sobering book:
_The End of Privacy : How Total Surveillance Is Becoming a Reality_
by Reg Whitaker & Reginald Whitaker
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565843789/ref=sim_books/103-6614918-5709424
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