Vancouver Set to Become Terrorist Photography Haven

Thanks to BoingBoing, I have learned that Vancouver is throwing all caution to the wind and opening themselves up wide for the unspeakable terrorist acts they are now all but supporting with their official stance on public photography:

Vancouver police are not allowed to seize cameras or cell phones from anyone, unless they have consent, a warrant, or the person has been lawfully arrested. Constable Lindsay Houghton tells the Province newspaper the policy has always been there, but it’s now in writing and updated in their official regulations manual.    LINK

Can you imagine the chaos that would erupt in a city like New York if police officers simply allowed people take pictures of anything they could see with their own two eyes?!

Luckily, for the citizens of New York, police officers regularly harass tourists and locals alike for treasonous behavior such as taking pictures while riding the subway or, even worse, of the actual subway cars.

I certainly feel safer in a city where police feel completely entitled to stop anyone they think looks “funny” and force them to turn over not only their cameras and cell phones but makes them empty out their bags and purses just for the right to ride the train.

UK Privacy Under Attack, Again – Welcome to Big Brother 2.0

Image via Wikipedia

The UK is widely known to be one of the most surveilled countries in the world.  According to The Daily Mail “There are already 4.2million cameras trained on the public.”

Now, The Daily Mail is reporting on new technology that promises to take terrifying new steps towards become a full police-state complete with Dream Police and Tendency Indicators:

“CCTV cameras which can ‘predict’ if a crime is about to take place are being introduced on Britain’s streets. The cameras can alert operators to suspicious behaviour, such as loitering and unusually slow walking. Anyone spotted could then have to explain their behaviour to a police officer.”

Someday people will wonder if it was worth trading in their privacy rights for a false sense of security but by then it will be far too late.