Party Like It’s 1984

Last week Dutch artists Thomas voor ‘t Hekke and Bas van Oerle celebrated the 110th birthday of writer George Orwell (Eric Blair, 1903-1950) by decorating surveillance cameras in the city of Utrecht with party hats to remind us how “the surveillance state described by Orwell is getting closer and closer to reality.”

More:

“Dutch Artists Celebrate George Orwell’s Birthday By Putting Party Hats On Surveillance Cameras,” Ellie Hall, Buzzfeed

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Trains, Cameras, and Crime

The Chicago Transit Authority spent $26 million installing 3,600 surveillance cameras in stations and on trains throughout the rail system. What happened? Crime increased.

“Surveillance cameras aren’t cure-alls—they’re tools, and imperfect ones at that. They can be easily foiled by the latest in apparel technology, including hooded sweatshirts and hats. They tend to break. They are susceptible to dirt, and bad weather, and darkness. And even if a suspect is photographed, he still has to be identified and located, which, for overworked police officers, can be a daunting task. While there are more than a million closed-circuit surveillance cameras in London, a police report found that, in 2008, one crime was solved per 1,000 cameras—an abysmal ratio.”

— “Chicago Installed Thousands of Cameras on its Rail Platforms. Crime Jumped by 21 Percent.” Justin Peters, Slate

CTA’s response: It’s installing another 850 cameras.

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Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-g1S

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Camover

Berlin has seen a rise in the use of police surveillance video, Closed Circuit TV (CCTV). And Berlin being Berlin, not everyone is happy about this, thinking it an invasion of privacy. One response has been the game of “Camover,” in which teams of young activists compete for points by creatively trashing surveillance cameras. The team with the most points by February 19th wins. That’s when the Europäischer Polizeikongress (European Police Congress) meets in Berlin.

Le Grand Frère Vous Regarde à Paris

Tourists aren’t the only ones in Paris with cameras; les flics have them as well. 200 new surveillance cameras now spy on the streets of the French capital, and by spring there will be 1200 more. Police at video monitors will be on the lookout for crime, terrorists, traffic jams, and inappropriate tutoiement. You have been warned.

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Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-bWY

Image (“Le Grand Frère Vous Regarde à Paris, after Caillebotte”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.