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Constitutional Law

UK to Install CCTVs in Private Homes to Monitor 20,000 ‘Sin Bins’

Posted Aug 4, 2009 1:20 PM CST
By Martha Neil

Reportedly far ahead of the United States in developing a network of closed-circuit television cameras with which to keep an eye on the activities of misbehaving citizens, the United Kingdom is now upping the ante even further.

The government plans to install CCTVs in at least 20,000 private homes to provide 24/7 surveillance to monitor what one official referred to as "sin bins," reports the Daily Express.

With the help of private security guards who will conduct in-home checks, the government hopes to encourage family meals and timely completion of children's school homework assignments and discourage drug and alcohol abuse, the newspaper explains. If the project is successful, it is expected to discourage family members from being pushed into a life of crime.

In the blogosphere, however, posts on Wired and Gizmodo suggest that this Orwellian cure may be worse than the disease.

Comments

1.

B. McLeod
Aug 4, 2009 1:47 PM CST

Then “private homes” will be a bit of a misnomer, eh?  The most remarkable thing is that the “Shadow Home Secretary” (i.e., the person who would actually be Home Secretary if the opposition had a majority in Parliament) says that this program does not go far enough.

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2.

J.D.
Aug 4, 2009 2:16 PM CST

This is the result of a constitution-less state and big, big, liberal government. THIS is where the Democrat Party wants to take us.

The California legislature (aka liberals) are pushing a bill to control home thermostats from the Sacramento statehouse. All under the guise of “environmentalism” of course.

This is how fascism starts. Liberals want to micromanage your life.

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3.

Nick
Aug 4, 2009 3:01 PM CST

One would think that the UK of all countries would be the most sensitive to such Orwellian invasions of privacy, being that it spawned Orwell himself.  But, unfortunately, the current power structure in London has nothing to do with the leadership that got that country through World War II and back on its feet in the aftermath thereof.  The more this type of thing goes on over there, and here, people will start to finally wake up and call for changes.  Hopefully, it won’t be too late.

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4.

Nick
Aug 4, 2009 3:04 PM CST

And, just to add, this latest action is not a surprise after the previous Home Secretary’s banning of Michael Savage from the UK.

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5.

Guy Fawkes
Aug 4, 2009 3:41 PM CST

Remember, Orwell was a devotee of Lenin before he saw the light and wrote 1984 and Animal Farm. Also, it was because of a tyrant, not an angel that the Magna Carta was written. Sometimes it takes a descent into the darkness to appreciate the light. Hopefully that descent does not need to be too significant or too long (e.g.: Russia under Stalin, Span under Franco, North Kore under Kim…........

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6.

nishant
Aug 5, 2009 8:52 AM CST

How is controlling thermostats to reduce the scientifically shown contributers to global warming equivalent to watching people’s personal lives? Bush’s wiretapping policy is much worse than that.

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7.

J.D.
Aug 5, 2009 10:30 AM CST

Really, nishant? So the state telling you when you can and can’t use air conditioning or a heater is cool with you? That’s totalitarianism. The state is also already telling people what kind of lightbulbs it can use.

Under this ‘reasoning’ the state should be allowed to dictate what kind of food to eat; certainly some foods are much more ‘green’ than others.

And couldn’t the state dictate how many miles you drive in a week, and what type of car you drive? Of course it could under your logic.

And couldn’t the state restrict how much television you can watch during a day? Certainly it could regulate how much energy you use in one day, no?

Why not allow the gov’t to dictate HOW MANY CHILDREN YOU HAVE and when you have them?

There’s no end in sight once you go down that path.

Liberal fascism will kill us all.

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8.

DR
Aug 5, 2009 1:08 PM CST

J.D. said:  “Liberal fascism will kill us all.”

Things don’t kill.  People kill.  Isn’t that the mantra of the gun lobby?  I liked it better when you just used “Liberals will kill us all.” 

Btwn:  Since the NYC blackout of 2003, I’ve been turning out the lights in every room that I’m not using and keep the air-conditioner as low as possible.  It has less to do with “environmental” concerns than the distinct memory of having to walk to Brooklyn in uncomfortable shoes.  There’s something to be said about showing respect for that aging power grid.

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9.

Reality Check
Aug 5, 2009 1:41 PM CST

Comment removed by moderator.

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10.

Hal
Aug 5, 2009 1:54 PM CST

JD says- So the state telling you when you can and can’t use air conditioning or a heater is cool with you? That’s totalitarianism. The state is also already telling people what kind of lightbulbs it can use.
-The state has been telling people what they can and cannot do for years.  Ever hear of prohibition?  What about the various schedules of drugs?  Yelling “fire” in a croweded movie theater?  Gay marraige?  Prostitution? 
PLEASE.

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11.

Pedro
Aug 5, 2009 2:05 PM CST

Hopefully Obama enacts something like this in the US.  The government should be in charge of making sure that people do what is best for the government.  This is one way to make sure people don’t do bad things.  Only conservatives who hate government don’t like this idea.

Pass Government Health Care

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12.

Jason Lamarche
Aug 5, 2009 9:21 PM CST

I’m a Liberal but I do not agree with in-house monitoring via CCTV.

http://LiberalMinute.ca

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13.

Walt Fricke
Aug 6, 2009 3:10 PM CST

Someone please tell me that this is a misplaced article from April 1st.

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