1984 Has Arrived

I was a high school student when first reading George Orwell’s 1984 and never thought I would see it happening – but I have.

Published in 1949, Orwell gave us a glimpse into a future where Big Brother oversees all with people constantly under surveillance, bombarded with propaganda, and manipulations of truth.

That future has arrived, not in a way that would have drawn critical attention, but slowly creeping into our lives and when it was noticed we were repeatedly that it was good for us and made us safer.

Long ago the business community began installing cameras inside their places of business. This was to reduce theft as images of thieves and their actions were recorded and provided to law enforcement for prosecution. The public was okay with this because those surveillance systems were responsible for getting bad people arrested and off the streets – at least until some liberal judge turns them back loose on society.

Fast forward to now and the cameras and security systems have become incredibly sophisticated with facial recognition capability. Private businesses have expanded their surveillance systems to include recording what goes on outside of their businesses, on sidewalks and in parking lots. Add to this all the governmental agencies that now have surveillance systems – always watching and always recording.

And that is not all.

Camera-based surveillance systems have become so inexpensive that an increasing number of people are using them in their homes. These are constantly recording not only who or what approaches the home, but also who or what is passing by on the road or street.

It has gotten to the point that when leaving home a person’s total activities might be recorded until they return home and go inside. That might not be completely true in some places but it is getting uncomfortably close.

THE NEXT phase of this Orwellian situation are the Flock cameras found along highways, constantly recording your travels. Once again, they are promoted as helping catch criminals – and they do, but they are also recording and storing information about the travels of law-abiding people as well.

We are told this information is deleted after a certain period of time, though such has been called into question. Even if it is, at that point the damage has been done because we are constantly hearing about law enforcement officials misusing these recordings. Officers have lost their jobs, maybe even facing criminal charges regarding misusing the information, but when Flock officials finally realize that a law enforcement official has misused the information, serious damage or loss of life might have already occurred.

This is not to suggest that any of you should take matters into your own hands and damage any of the Flock cameras as people have done and continue doing. Know that while Flock does not prosecute officers who misuse the information their cameras gather, they will most certainly go after you for damaging their cameras. So will the law enforcement agency that authorized their use.

WHEN it comes to Flock, or school zone cameras, there is something you can do and that is at the ballot box.

There are already political hopefuls that are promising that if elected they will work to abolish Flock and school zone camera systems.

If you don’t like these camera systems watching you all the time don’t damage them, instead vote the people who approved them out of office and vote for people who will get rid of them.

That is the best way to handle the situation.

That’s my opinion.

Andy Kober can be reached at andykober@hotmail.com