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The lives of others on CCTV

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cs4 msp cctv
cs4 msp cctv

Maybe cs4_msp_cctvone day we’ll write that dystopian novel we’ve always threatened to write. In the meantime reality is fast catching up. A new game offers internet users the chance to shop crims from CCTV footage.

The website Internet Eyes will offer prizes to users that spot criminal activity from CCTV cameras around Britain. Once a user has spotted a crime taking place, they click to send a photo off to the camera’s owner.

If the crime is verified, the user gets points. A user gets one point for a suspected crime and three for a real crime. But you lose points for a false alert. Live footage from four different cameras is changed every ten minutes.

Whoever gets the most point naturally wins and that prize is £1000. Companies signing up to have their CCTV feeds watched by amateurs will have to shell out £20 per month for the privilege.

A trial run will be undertaken in Stratford-Upon-Avon next month but civil liberties campaigner said that the website is encouraging a “snoop on everyone” society.

According to Tony Morgan, managing director, Internet Eyes, the Big brotheresque website is not a game but a ‘crime prevention weapon.”

 

“This isn’t a game – it’s serious. This is all about crime prevention and it could be very, very effective. At the moment people look at CCTV and think someone might or might not be watching so they commit the crimes anyway. Once this gets going and we get signs saying that the CCTV is part of our scheme, it will be an extra deterrent because people will know they are probably being watched,” said Morgan.