CONTACT US
A new report claims Britons are being watched too closely - let us know what you think
The House of Lords Constitution Committee believes Big Brother is watching Britons a little too closely.
The UK now has more CCTV cameras and a bigger National DNA Database than any other country.
In a new report, the committee has said this incessant creep towards every detail about us being recorded and pored over by the state can not be justified.
The Committee had made 44 recommendations to protect individuals from invasions of their privacy related to surveillance and data collection.
Surveillance stats
- There is up to 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain - about one for every 14 people.
- The National DNA Database (NDNAD), is also the largest in proportionate terms in the world with 7.39% of the population in the NDNAD compared with just 0.5% of the US population on the FBI's 'CODIS' database
- The House of Lords Constitution Committee believes the rise in surveillance and data collection by the state and private sector risks undermining the fundamental relationship between the state and citizens
- A report from the Surveillance Studies Network in 2006 predicted that by 2016 shoppers could be scanned as they enter stores, schools could bring in cards allowing parents to monitor what their children eat, and jobs may be refused to applicants who are seen as a health risk.
Let us know what you think about this story - join in on the debate below
