We are getting to the end of another year, and I feel most will say it hasn’t been the best year so far. With every depressed about the recession and jobs cuts, we have had one piece of good news; Big Brother on Channel 4 is ending next year. One more year and we will never have to hear about the bunch we weirdoes locking themselves in a house to try and grab a bit of fame. I don’t know about you but hearing that really cheered me up.
I think Big Brothers days were numbered anyway, why do we want to see a load of people living under constant surveillance when that is what everyday life is anyway. I live in Nottingham, the 7th most watched place in the UK with 5 cameras per every 1000 people. That is over 3000 cameras in the city!
I don’t really mind CCTV cameras but if you delve a little bit deeper into surveillance of society then it gets a little bit more intrusive. Manchester Airport has introduced a new x ray scanner that lets them see you naked. This is supposed to be instead of the old patting down they used to do to people.
I have always been suspicious of GPS vehicle tracking. It is good because it will let you know where you are and tell you where to go, but I always thought it could be used the other way around, to track you. It is a good idea for commercial companies to monitor their fleet, but could it be used to track individuals to see if they are speeding?
Worst of all I think is RFID tracking something that is completely new to me. It is a form of tracking that uses microchips to track packages. Companies are now wanting to put them into products to allow them to see where they end up and who has brought them. I think this is against common decency, I don’t not want a company to know if I have brought their produce. All they will use it for is to bombard you with targeting junk mail.
No wonder (and thank God) Big Brother is ending, reading the news makes it feel like we are living in that house ourselves.