The Nature of Surveillance - Report Example

The Nature of Surveillance Name Institutional Affiliation The Nature of Surveillance Introduction In the 21st century, one of the major issues which companies and organizations today are so concerned about is the security and safety of their premises and any other assets that they might be having in whatever location (Marcus, 2012). These assets could range from material to intangible possessions which could be very vital to the company or the organization. In this light, companies, as well as organizations, have resorted to various means of ensuring that their possessions and properties are safeguarded from any intrusion from thieves or people with malicious motives (Marcus, 2012). Several means to safeguard the properties have been employed which range from guards, installation of cameras, electric fencing and perimeter walls among other means. As presented in the above paragraph, one such method of safeguarding the properties of a company or an organization is the installation of gadgets for surveillance known as closed circuit televisions (CCTV). CCTV surveillance gadgets can also be referred to as video surveillance gadgets. These cameras or videos are a TV system which transmits signals privately, and the signals are monitored by personnel mainly for surveillance and security (Cieszynski, 2007). Many big and important buildings today have CCTV gadgets installed on them for surveillance of movement of people and to detect any breach in the expected order in which individuals should behave. The CCTV gadgets are normally placed on private points strategically located so that the input they transmit on the monitors can be observed (Hood, 2013). The CCTV system is usually referred to as a closed circuit since the link between the monitors and the cameras and the videos or pictures transmitted are communicated through proprietary coaxial cables (Cieszynski, 2007). Sometimes the information captured by the cameras is normally transmitted to the monitors through wireless means, and any access to data or information is limited by the nature in which the whole system is designed. A long time ago, CCTV surveillance was done using black and white monitors and the cameras for capturing videos and pictures were of very low resolution. However, with time, high-resolution cameras and high definition monitors have been used widely in monitoring and capturing images and videos. Furthermore, the CCTV gadgets today have been improved in such a way that the administrator or the operator at the control and surveillance room can zoom in and out images and videos as they get transmitted. The today’s CCTVs also have speakers which allow the administrators to communicate to people at some short distances using the speakers attached to the cameras. Just as it was illustrated in the previous sections, CCTVs have obtained high usage in many sectors such as in maintenance of the perimeter securities, in monitoring of traffic flow, and obtaining a video record of activities of people such as in offices, towns, in banks, shopping malls, inside vehicles and planes among other places where human beings associate. As much as CCTV has been widely used to survey public places, privacy concerns which are a basic ri2ght of human beings have been compromised, and this has been contested in many parts of the world. Surveillance in the Age of Information Available technology has greatly been used by surveillance officers for security or monitoring nefarious and malicious acts of people. In the olden days, people relied solely on telescopes to aid them to carry out such activities (Burton, 2016). However, today there is various sophisticated equipment which has to be used such as night vision aids, video and photographic gears, sound detectors, beacons, as well as scanners which are programmable to help the security personnel to carry out their work effectively (Burton, 2016). All these have been made possible courtesy of the personal computers which can database and analyze information to finer details and also the internet which has tremendously revolutionized how information is gathered. Without any doubt, the modern technology has greatly improved and enhanced surveillance. As much as the technology has been highly applied in surveillance, still there is a section which it has not fully replaced (Burton, 2016). Physical pre-operational surveillance has not been rendered obsolete by embracement of modern technology in surveillance (Burton, 2016). Meaning, besides leveraging technology in surveillance, still an individual has to be present to take part in surveillance proactively. In other words, technology has only been used to enhance but not to fully replace human effort in surveillance. The internet has been widely used as a tool to gain surveillance information about people. For example, if the target in the surveillance operation is an individual, then the internet can give information about the person’s age, occupation, family members, spouse, hobbies, health history, participation in various events such as charity and humanitarian activities among other pieces of information being sought. Other public records about a person can also be retrieved from the internet such as driver license issuance date, voter’s card registration number, passport number, criminal records, and data about property tax and tax return records among others. The internet is also able to provide both aerial photographs and videos about certain targeted areas of surveillance. Satellite cameras have made it easy to capture aerial photographs and transmit to various sites on the internet where they can be accessed (Burton, 2016). Hence this explains precisely how the internet has been a useful source of information in surveillance. As much as the internet has been used ass source of information for surveillance intensively, it has to be noted that the internet has various limitations. First, the internet has a lot of erroneous data which does not hold any truth about a person or place being searched. The internet could also be full of untrue information due to what is known as lag time (Cabling Plus 2014). Lag time is the period between the event and when it is posted on the internet for the public. Therefore, it is important that before any information is gathered from the internet for surveillance purposes, it has to be confirmed for validity and authenticity. What Constitutes Surveillance? Surveillance is the general act by an assigned individual to monitor the activity of someone of something so as to prevent any possible crime or breach of order that is provided (Yael, 2008). Whenever the government or private agencies want to gather information about a committed crime, detect a crime or when trying to prevent the occurrence or recurrence of criminal activity, they use surveillance as the means. Surveillance is made up of several units for form the entire surveillance system (Yael, 2008). First, there are cameras installed. In most cases, the cameras are hanged on locations which are not so exposed to the public that noticing where they are is not easy (Cabling Plus, 2014). These locations could be on roofs, walls or any other hidden places. These cameras are normally of different resolutions, lenses sizes, mounting options, and shapes. According to Cabling Plus (2014), other components which constitute the surveillance system include; the DVR which is like the heart o f` ras have had a ctiveles.g ourse ,however when it is very hot the dress covers the legs and prevent them from thf the entire surveillance system, CCTV cables for transmitting information, BNC connectors, CCTV power supply, and installation tools for fixing the various units for form a system. Who is watched by the CCTV Surveillance System? Whenever one gets into a bus, train, shopping mall, airplane, or just taking a dog out for a walk, there are high chances the person is being recorded digitally by the surveillance CCTV cameras mounted almost everywhere by the local government authorities, government agencies or private property owners (Bajkowski, 2015). According to Murphy (2012), these cameras have become a common feature in the lives of people to an extent they are taken for granted as features used to prevent violence or criminal activities by the officers who are ever watching the cameras to prosecute the offenders who could be captured on the cameras. Who is watching the monitors connected to these cameras? Local government authorities and private property owners, as well as security personnel, are ever on vigilance watching all day and night the surveillance monitors. These could be in control rooms of buildings or specially built offices just for the purpose of watching the cameras or at the police or military headquarters. The people being watched in most cases are the potential criminals who are likely to commit crimes such as thieves or terrorists. Law breakers are also watched for instance traffic rule breakers on the roads among others. Security and Privacy implications of the Surveillance Surveillance cameras have had security and privacy implications (Wels and David, 2009). Security implications could as well be referred to like the advantages these systems have to offer whereas the privacy implications are the drawbacks the implementation of security surveillance system has had from time to time (Allen and Rustenburg, 2016). Regarding security, these cameras have helped in deterring to a greater extent the incidences of crimes. Whenever the cameras are installed, their effect is felt almost immediately (Etzioni, 2007). If for instance, a manager is experiencing challenges with theft, low productivity, or lateness among employees, the moment the security cameras are installed, the manager will immediately feel a sense of comfort (Etzioni, 2008). Security cameras are also essential in gathering evidence in the case of criminal acts, help in decision making, maintenance of records and monitoring scenarios and activities of people. However, there are privacy concerns throughout the world about monitoring of public activities using the surveillance cameras. Such controversies have been stirred up especially in professional fields where employees protest being monitored privately without their consent (Farrington and Kate, 2011). As presented by Warren (2008), they have complained that their privacy is being invaded and some of them have resorted to legal actions by filing lawsuits against such organizations related to violation of their privacy rights. Conclusion It is important to understand that before installing a security system, one should have prior knowledge about which types of cameras are suitable. Weighing the pros and cons of technology will be helpful in determining which path to take with regards to installation of the security surveillance system. The world today has changed, and technology has become an integral part of human and the world, and it has been used in almost every field including security. References Allen, A., and Rustenburg, M. (2016). Privacy law and society. West Academic. Bajkowski, J. (2015). Surveillance nation: Who’s watching CCTV? Government News Burton, F. (2016). Surveillance in the age of information. Security Weekly, Stratford. Retrieved from https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/surveillance-information-age Cabling Plus. (2014). Understanding the parts of CCTV surveillance system: The latest industry news, tips, and reviews. Cabling Plus.com Cieszynski, J. (2007). Closed circuit television 3rd Ed. Burlington, NJ: Newness. Etzioni, A. (2007). Are new technologies enemy of privacy? Journal of Knowledge, Technology and Policy, 32(8), 887-905. Etzioni, A. (2008). A communitarian perspective on privacy. Connecticut Law Review, 33(3), 88-97. Farrington, D.P., and Kate, A.P. (2011). How to evaluate the impact of CCTV on crime. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 5(3), 7-16. Hood, J. (2013). Closed circuit television system: A failure in risk communication? Journal of Risk Research, 6, 233-251. Marcus, N. (2012). Public and private application of video surveillance and bio-metric technologies, Sacramento CA: California research Bureau, California State Library. Murphy, D.E. (2012). Security camera sprout, someone’s always watching. New York Times Regan, P.M. (2009). Legislating privacy: Technology, social values and public policy. Chapel Hill, U.S.: The University of North Carolina. Warren, B. (2008). The right to privacy. Harvard Law Review. Wels, B.C., and David, P.F. (2009). Evidence based-crime prevention: The effectiveness of CCTV. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 6(1), 21-33. Yael, O. (2008). Privacy in the digital environment. Haifa Centre of Law and Technology. Read More

Furthermore, the CCTV gadgets today have been improved in such a way that the administrator or the operator at the control and surveillance room can zoom in and out images and videos as they get transmitted. The today’s CCTVs also have speakers which allow the administrators to communicate to people at some short distances using the speakers attached to the cameras. Just as it was illustrated in the previous sections, CCTVs have obtained high usage in many sectors such as in maintenance of the perimeter securities, in monitoring of traffic flow, and obtaining a video record of activities of people such as in offices, towns, in banks, shopping malls, inside vehicles and planes among other places where human beings associate.

As much as CCTV has been widely used to survey public places, privacy concerns which are a basic ri2ght of human beings have been compromised, and this has been contested in many parts of the world. Surveillance in the Age of Information Available technology has greatly been used by surveillance officers for security or monitoring nefarious and malicious acts of people. In the olden days, people relied solely on telescopes to aid them to carry out such activities (Burton, 2016). However, today there is various sophisticated equipment which has to be used such as night vision aids, video and photographic gears, sound detectors, beacons, as well as scanners which are programmable to help the security personnel to carry out their work effectively (Burton, 2016).

All these have been made possible courtesy of the personal computers which can database and analyze information to finer details and also the internet which has tremendously revolutionized how information is gathered. Without any doubt, the modern technology has greatly improved and enhanced surveillance. As much as the technology has been highly applied in surveillance, still there is a section which it has not fully replaced (Burton, 2016). Physical pre-operational surveillance has not been rendered obsolete by embracement of modern technology in surveillance (Burton, 2016).

Meaning, besides leveraging technology in surveillance, still an individual has to be present to take part in surveillance proactively. In other words, technology has only been used to enhance but not to fully replace human effort in surveillance. The internet has been widely used as a tool to gain surveillance information about people. For example, if the target in the surveillance operation is an individual, then the internet can give information about the person’s age, occupation, family members, spouse, hobbies, health history, participation in various events such as charity and humanitarian activities among other pieces of information being sought.

Other public records about a person can also be retrieved from the internet such as driver license issuance date, voter’s card registration number, passport number, criminal records, and data about property tax and tax return records among others. The internet is also able to provide both aerial photographs and videos about certain targeted areas of surveillance. Satellite cameras have made it easy to capture aerial photographs and transmit to various sites on the internet where they can be accessed (Burton, 2016).

Hence this explains precisely how the internet has been a useful source of information in surveillance. As much as the internet has been used ass source of information for surveillance intensively, it has to be noted that the internet has various limitations. First, the internet has a lot of erroneous data which does not hold any truth about a person or place being searched. The internet could also be full of untrue information due to what is known as lag time (Cabling Plus 2014). Lag time is the period between the event and when it is posted on the internet for the public.

Therefore, it is important that before any information is gathered from the internet for surveillance purposes, it has to be confirmed for validity and authenticity.

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