"OTTAWA — David Lyon is studying the ceiling in an Ottawa coffee shop, searching for hidden cameras. A leading figure in the fast-growing field of surveillance studies, the Queen's University sociologist is only too aware of the many ways we're all being watched.
Closed-circuit TV cameras, like the ones likely concealed in the coffee shop ceiling, are among the most common. Since 9/11, their use has exploded worldwide. Britain now has an estimated 4.2 million CCTV cameras — one for every 14 citizens. People in central London are now caught on camera about 300 times a day.
One estimate puts the number of public and private CCTV cameras in the United States at 30 million. So far, similar estimates are lacking for Canada. But experts agree camera surveillance has been growing steadily here as well.
'I find it mind-boggling when I see what they do in Britain,' Lyon says. 'Police officers on bicycles now have video surveillance cameras in their helmets,' he exclaims, then blurts, 'What kind of a world are we living in?'"...more
