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London's Privacy Falling Down

Date: November 2, 2002
Author: Julia Scheeres
QUOTE: But the posters [that state "Big Bobby is watching"] are having the opposite effect on privacy advocates, who say the artwork is creepily reminiscent of the all-seeing authority described in George Orwell's 1984.

ABSTRACT: In an effort to improve the safety of London buses, the city has posted eerie posters and surveillance cameras. The posters are "reminiscent of the all-seeing authority described in George Orwell's 1984." Critics assert the posters are just disturbing; Perry de Havilland, who has a blog about libertarian issues, explains, "'I saw the bloody thing, and it boggled my mind, the sheer audacity of it.'" The cameras are also not without their problems--opposition asserts that crimes are not detered for it is still possible to stear clear from being recognized on videotape. All in all, as the leader of Privacy International, Simon Davies, states "'I resent the idea that I should be subjected to the scrutiny of invisible cameras just to satisfy someone's crazed idea of that way society is that everyone is a criminal.'"
--- Kathleen Hom

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