I once suggested to a newspaper editor friend of mine, that the city could do us all a favor by putting wide angle TV surveillance cameras on every street light in the city and putting the resulting images on the Web in real time. Sooner or later, this type of Big Brother activity will become commonplace. Nor does it matter that few if any people would be watching at any given time. I have the same reaction to all the hoorah about privacy. Then at least, you would know if it is accurate and you could determine just what it is they know about you.
Civilization is just one invasion of privacy after another.
As time has passed, we have adjusted to each new level of intrusiveness. The Web has introduced a quantum leap in surveillance and information gathering potentialities. Just click HERE and fill out the form you find there and each day's issue will be delivered to you in text-only format via email in the morning. If you would like to recommend this column to some friends, click HERE and fill in their email addresses in the form you will find there, along with your comments. Back to Contents .