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March 16, 2005

Surveillance Cameras and Privacy

A nice intro article from the Detroit Free Press:

Today, a typical Meijer store has more than 100 cameras watching customers and staff. If you shop at Marshall Field's, at least 400 cameras are keeping an eye on you. Some experts estimate that the typical American has his or her photo taken up to 200 times a day. While there is no comprehensive count of surveillance cameras in metro Detroit, they clearly number in the thousands -- concealed in public and private buildings, at intersections and gas stations, and in restaurants, stores, gyms, libraries and schools.

Sometimes, the cameras' tapes are stored for 30 to 90 days and looked at again only if there is suspicion a crime was recorded. In other cases, security personnel watch monitors live. In the case of 2,500 cameras the Road Commission for Oakland County installed at key intersections, the data help coordinate traffic flow.

Keeping homes and businesses safe was a $24.8-billion business in 2004 and is expected to grow by almost $1 billion this year. There are about 14,000 security companies nationwide, and about 16 percent of their sales are surveillance camera systems.

Surveillance at Marshall Field's is so sophisticated that a guard sitting at a wall of monitors in a back room or even off site can watch cashiers as they handle purchases and spot thievery. It also allows fraud investigators to backtrack and identify someone using a stolen or manufactured credit card.

Americans, it seems, are just beginning to realize how often they are caught on camera. A 2004 national survey of 20,000 households conducted by the Security Distributing and Marketing magazine showed that about 37 percent believed they were being watched by video surveillance at work.

Posted by rshah at March 16, 2005 07:04 AM

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