On CCTV and Social Contracts

British-Gazette.co.uk 

The Government have released a guideline for CCTV use across the country today. The document, which include both precedent and guiding principles can be found here.

The document opens with the premise that the state has a role in ensuring security for its citizens- and as the dangers become more unpredictable, there is a necessity for technologies like CCTV and other methods of surveillance:

"The government considers that wherever overt surveillance in public places is in pursuit of  legitimate aim and meets a pressing need, any such surveillance should be characterised surveillance by consent, and such consent on the part of the community must be informed consent and not assumed by a system operator."

Beyond the buzzwords, the document doesn't say particularly much about the boundaries, or the defined legal limits of surveillance proceedures. Point 2.2 suggests that the prima facie of the Home Office's argument rests on the assertion that surveillance is necessary to protect wider society.

It does offer a safeguard in the form of a new commissioner, but its remit isn't defined (at least as far as I can tell). It does come at an interesting time though, especially considering the Obama administration's attempts to justify the various NSA programs exposed earlier this year.

Publishing these documents seems to suggest that the debate is moving toward questions readdressing the obligations between state and society. Effectively, it's examining the age-old question of the social contract in the context of an increasingly interconnected, digital age.