A new British website called Internet Eyes is offering a new and somewhat controversial service. Users of the site will monitor CCTV fids with the objective of catching criminals. The website , which is marketed as a worldwide online instant notification system offers cash prizes of up to £1000 each month. Those interested in making some money will be offered random live feeds – each lasting up to 10 minutes – from one of the four million CCTV cameras disseminated across the country. If they witness a criminal act being perpetrated, they just have to send a photo off to the owner. Amateur Spies can register for free without any recurring fees and if they manage to detect a suspected crime, they will be awarded with one point and three points for an actual crime.
Britain is probably the most surveilled country on earth, and London the most watched major city. The “Big Brother” debate over privacy and whether closed-circuit television cameras deter crime has been going on for 20 years and continues today. The BBC noted last month: “Only one crime was solved by each 1,000 CCTV cameras in London last year, a report into the city’s surveillance network has claimed. The internal police report found the million-plus cameras in London rarely help catch criminals. In one month CCTV helped capture just eight out of 269 suspected robbers. David Davis MP, the former shadow home secretary, said: ‘CCTV leads to massive expense and minimum effectiveness. It creates a huge intrusion on privacy, yet provides little or no improvement in security.’”
I think they will find that this is contravention of the data protection act.
Why is the rate so low? Dallas (Texas,USA) Police monitor 40 cameras and have made a huge impact on crime.