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P1The proliferation of CCTV cameras throughout public space has ignited considerable debate. Some maintain that pervasive surveillance renders cities safer; others decry it as an intolerable encroachment on privacy. This essay discusses both positions before offering my own.

P2Advocates dwell on the contribution cameras make to public safety. Their mere presence can dissuade prospective offenders, who think twice when they know they are observed, while the footage they yield proves invaluable in identifying suspects and securing convictions. In thronged city centres and transport hubs, surveillance also enables the authorities to respond swiftly to accidents, brawls or emergencies, occasionally saving lives, and for countless ordinary citizens the cameras are simply a source of reassurance.

P3Opponents of mass surveillance, however, warn of a grievous cost to liberty. When people are filmed wherever they venture, they argue, society slides towards a condition in which every citizen is implicitly treated as a suspect. There is, moreover, the peril that the data amassed will be abused, whether by governments bent on monitoring lawful dissent or by individuals who secure illicit access to it. Perpetual observation, critics contend, exerts a chilling effect on the spontaneity and privacy on which a free society depends.