In a lot of news at the minute there seems to be a huge privacy debate going on. Internet privacy, phone privacy – all kinds really. Unable to remain untouched, CCTV gets dragged into the debate. The big question seems to be, is CCTV a good thing or a bad thing? Protection or surveillance? Well I suppose that depends on your view.

Academic research would have you believe that CCTV is an outrage to civil liberties with the threat to privacy outweighing any dubious benefits to safety and crime reduction. It does seem a little ‘1984’ when you consider the fact that you will unknowingly be caught on CCTV several times every day without knowing. A comprehensive CCTV could indeed follow your every move. However. CCTV has worked wonders for crime and security. In the most vicious cases, criminals can be found or identified by CCTV. Surveillance can make known the last steps of missing people. And petty crime can prosecuted and often prevented with CCTV. So in the case of privacy versus security, how would you plead?