UK surveillance cams may get mic'ed up to detect aggression

Pretty much every time we glance over at our friends in the UK, they seem to be implementing surveillance technology that surely wouldn't make George Orwell too thrilled. In the last two months alone we've seen those CCTV cams with accompanying loudspeakers debut in Middlesbrough, which was more recently followed by a handful of London cops getting some head-mounted cams. Sure, it's easy to invoke the spectre of Big Brother into any conversation about the expansion of the watchful eye of government, but the new discussions afoot have even us Yanks a little concerned for our British brethren. According to The Times, UK police are considering using high-powered microphones that will home in on a particular public conversation, if "aggressive tones" are detected, based on decibel level, pitch and the speed of the speaker's voice. Three hundred such microphones are already installed in cities around The Netherlands, including Groningen, Utrecht and Rotterdam, in locations such as government offices, city centers, and our favorite: "T-Mobile shops." We had no idea T-Mobile shops caused Dutch people to get so ornery -- maybe their highly-ranked customer service department didn't make it across the Atlantic yet.

[Via The Inquirer]

[Matt @ Nov 27th 2006 9:32PM]

They are like "Fuck you camera"

[Russ @ Nov 27th 2006 9:37PM]

where is that picture from?? hilarious!

[alex @ Nov 27th 2006 10:07PM]

"maybe their highly-ranked customer service department didn't make it across the Atlantic yet"

It really didn't.

The government has done a really sneaky thing by secretly promoting the big brother tv show for a decade before introducing any of this technology, so any talk of 1984 is instantly dismissed. That's my conspiracy theory and I'm sticking to it!

[mitch @ Nov 27th 2006 10:09PM]

lol
Bonus points for being Funny

[Greg Tinti @ Nov 27th 2006 10:34PM]

FYI It's "hone in on" not "home in on"

[catfish @ Nov 27th 2006 10:44PM]

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=%22hone+in+on%22&word2=%22home+in+on%22

google disagrees.

[Mark @ Nov 27th 2006 11:17PM]

We are the Mods, we are the Mods, we-are-we-are-we-are-the-Mods.
Hilarious...I like how when ever you guys need a mob shot of English youth you bust out a still from Quadrophenia. And not even Faces, just a scruffy bunch of 6's and 7's.

[kadajawi @ Nov 27th 2006 11:56PM]

Poor brits. Someone should stop this nonsense, hack their systems, annoy them by talking louder than usual, ... The development in UK is really scaring me. Do the Chinese have this stuff already? If not, at what point will they have more freedom than our British neighbors?

Anyway... actually T-Mobile comes from across the Atlantic.

[LTM @ Nov 28th 2006 1:16AM]

Can I be the first to be the guinea pig for one of those cameras because I've been dying to try out my gorilla suit and my dirty mouth so I can tell the camera to go f*%$ itself twice!

[JBDragon @ Nov 28th 2006 2:01AM]

Pretty funny picture. Camera's are all around us, and it's just going to get worse.

[v1m @ Nov 28th 2006 3:30AM]

Gadget blurb-writers don't make the sharpest political commentators.

It's amusing to see you fretting about CCTV in the UK as if you weren't already living under Homeland Security, Bush's power to detain, export and torture, and all the warrantless tapping of the Patriot Act.

You want to knock Big Brotha? Look around you, laddies.

[rawr @ Nov 28th 2006 11:26AM]

Oh please.

"I don't care if the government listens to and watches every public conversation I will ever have, BUSH IS T3H HAX BECAUSE DA TV SEZ SO!"

/ducks and runs for cover

[CB @ Nov 28th 2006 4:29AM]

LOL that's a picture of some British Mods, they look a bit retro, a sixties cult that specialised in riding scooters and listening to SKA and Motown music.

To be honest it's the main argument in our office and everyone who argues for it always trolls out the immortal line 'If you have nothing to hide..' I'm personally going to rip a new one on the next person who says that one.
That line totally describes your utter lack of understanding of the situation you are in, it will NEVER stop people, not until they are reading your minds directly, at the moment they try to read them indirectly by running algorithms on your actions, your likes, your appearance, your habits, your purchasing patterns.
Very soon they will invent an implant that can monitor your state of mind and transmit this info to the nearest 'cell site' it wil be useful at first for phsycopaths and then compulsory for everyone, because you have nothing to hide...

[Alex` @ Nov 28th 2006 8:37AM]

My understanding is that these are still only proposals. Public opinion is massively against them on this, unlike surveillance cameras. While you may be caught 300 times a day on camera, they're all different people's cameras. Nobody's following you around (except the police but they can only do that after the fact: it takes many days to get all the film from the different establishments)

It's very kind of you chaps to be so worried about us, but I think you should perhaps be worried about your own government before you start worrying about ours:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198&q=America%3A+From+Freedom+To+Fascism
(quite a long video, but well worth it if you're a US citizen)

[Randy Gentry @ Nov 28th 2006 9:43AM]

Is that one guy toting a pie?

[Parker @ Nov 28th 2006 11:46AM]

"1984" is a popular book. Even most people who haven't read it are familiar with its subject matter, right? "1984" is recognized as more than fiction; it's a warning. Who would disagree with that?

That said, I can't for the life of me understand why Britain (and America, and the majority of the developed world) is still heading down this road. It's like we're all saying "we know it's bad, and we don't like it, but what the heck, let's do it anyway." Who's responsible for this crap?

[Zibiso @ Nov 29th 2006 4:51AM]

So it means this is where our technology & development fails us! no more peace of mind or freedom to move about without being crutised! is this also going to go to the toilets and bathrooms! this is pathetic just to be straight forward!

[John @ Dec 7th 2006 9:22AM]

Bro & Sis? http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?image=friendlyriot2ai0.jpg

lol

[Zach @ Dec 31st 2006 1:09PM]

There is a reason for all of this, it was brought about because of the Terrorist attacks in London. America's security is more extreme over the 9/11 attacks which has the goverment written all over it for example the pentagon being attacked they blamed that on a plane crash even though, they found no evidence of a plain there the news said that yes exactly the NEWS the goverments way of getting there people to believe what they want to believe when there are images of a massive hole in the pentagon going though alot of wars all near enough 360 degrees it was obviosly a missile. The funny thing was, when they found evidence for it they found out it was an american missile so if things like this are going on around the world than we as british citizens have the right to feel protected by all these cameras.