Big Brother in ENC

By William R. Toler

It’s amazing to think about the liberties we give up to make ourselves feel safe. Not really amazing…more like apalling.

Newschannel 12 reported last week on a 52-camera system set up by the Greenville Police Dept. Authorities say that it helps with crime prevention but failed to give any specific examples.

The new system was also purported as a way to save money. “We can now take one person to do the job of 10-15 police officers on the street,” said Lt. Ted Sauls. However the department plans to hire additional officers to monitor the spy-cam system while increasing the number of cameras to 200 around the city.

Several people interviewed said they were concerned that the cameras are going too far and are invasion of privacy. One person even said she would think differently about what she wore, how she looked, what she does and who she’s with.

This isn’t the first case of concern for cameras in eastern North Carolina. In 2007, former Pamlico News editor Tony Tharp led a lone ranger protest against two cameras set up in Oriental by operated by Town Dock.

Should we worry? Yes we should.

“Civil liberties issues, especially those dealing with the ‘Surveillance Society,’ simply don’t resonate with people,” Tharp said, “especially the conservative, emotionally cowed and politically timid crowd we sometimes have to deal with in Oriental.”

It may not resonate with all conservatives, but there is one in Texas who preaches against the mass surveillance of the public. That man is radio and television host Alex Jones. Jones believes the mass surveillance is part of the slow progression toward a police state, bringing the world on George Orwell’s “1984” that much closer to a reality.

Another concerned conservative is colorful columnist William Safire. The Libertarian lexicographer wrote a collection of columns for the New York Times about the Orwellian measures taken by the government in the formation of  the Information Awareness Office.

The IAO was establsihed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2002  to “imagine, develop, apply, integrate, demonstrate and transition information technologies, components and prototype, closed-loop, information systems that will counter asymmetric threats by achieving total information awareness.”

The logo for the IAO consisted of the Eye of Providence scanning the globe with the latin phrase “scientia est potentia” meaning “Knowledge is Power.”  Some could interperet that as meaning, the more information they have on us, the more power they have over us.

After much scrutinty from the press, led by Safire, Congress ceased funding the total information awareness program in late 2003. But that doesn’t mean the threat is over.

More and more cities and private businesses are putting up cameras. Businesses are keeping tabs on what you buy. Your cable company tracks what you watch. Your business…is Big Brother’s business.