United Kingdom
At the end of 2006, the UK was described by the Surveillance Studies Network as being 'the most surveilled country' among the industrialized Western states. Although, the report this was based on has since been disputed. The original study states that there are ~4.2m CCTV Cameras in operation in the UK, a new report in 2011 shows that there are actually ~1.85m cameras in operation in the UK, 92% of which, being privately owned.
On 6 February 2009 a report by the House of Lords Constitution Committee, Surveillance: Citizens and the State, warned that increasing use of surveillance by the government and private companies is a serious threat to freedoms and constitutional rights, stating that "The expansion in the use of surveillance represents one of the most significant changes in the life of the nation since the end of the Second World War. Mass surveillance has the potential to erode privacy. As privacy is an essential pre-requisite to the exercise of individual freedom, its erosion weakens the constitutional foundations on which democracy and good governance have traditionally been based in this country."
Read more about this topic: Mass Surveillance, State Enforced
Famous quotes containing the words united and/or kingdom:
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—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)
“In the kingdom of consumption the citizen is king. A democratic monarchy: equality before consumption, fraternity in consumption, and freedom through consumption. The dictatorship of consumer goods has finally destroyed the barriers of blood, lineage and race.”
—Raoul Vaneigem (b. 1934)