Safety Versus "Big Brother": Is There Such a Thing as Privacy in Public?

Smile.

You could be on camera in a shopping mall, a coffee shop, the local dry cleaner, or even a parking lot.

For example, take Middletown, Connecticut.

In the past 18 months, the city has invested more than 100-thousand dollars on high-definition cameras for parking lots.  The cameras feed real-time video back to flat screen monitors at the parking office inside city hall.

“I don’t spend every single minute looking at the screen, but we use it in a very strategic way.  It’s not to be invasive, but to provide public safety, a public need,” said Parking Director Gene Thazhampallath.  

Public safety is also tied to economic development.  Main Street Middletown is incredibly popular due to the variety of restaurants and quaint shops.  Thazhampallath says if parking lots are monitored, thereby safe, it only feeds the local economy.

“We hope this will become a deterrent,” he says, standing in front of four high-def televisions.  “If the word gets out, if you are thinking about doing something, don’t do it in Middletown, or our public lots, because we are watching.”  He adds crimes have been solved because police have access to high-quality video.

The value of a watchful eye came after the Boston Marathon bombing, when police released surveillance video of the alleged suspects, who were quickly identified.  At the same time, it raises questions about the balance between security and privacy, and whether there is even such a thing as privacy when a person is in public.  In the past, the American Civil Liberties Union has been vocal against traffic light cameras, with one argument being that it is far too much “Big Brother.” 

“I always say, and I tell my city council, I want people to know that we have cameras in place,” Gene said.

Middletown has 600-thousand dollars in grant money yet to spend, and the goal is to install at least one hundred cameras.  Will dozens of electronic eyes make residents and visitors feel secure – or a bit uneasy? 

Regardless, this is the world we live in.  So smile – you are most likely on a not-so-candid camera.