Cameras will have Whyte awash in terror

Whyte Avenue has always been at the forefront of Edmonton’s culture scene, from its formation in the 1890s, to being the home for Edmonton’s first Lululemon, and the first place I ever saw a new Chevy Camaro. And now it’s making a new name for itself with the recent introduction of CCTV. Following many other similar streets, video cameras have started to be placed all over the Ave in such illustrious locales as Lucky 13. Though this phenomena hasn’t fully taken over Whyte yet, it is becoming an ever-growing and popular trend.

CCTV cameras seem at first to be a wonderful idea to protect citizens, but in reality they’re just an overbearing method of hampering law-abiding hooligans. CCTV’s relative usefulness and effectiveness is close to nil in both deterring crime and catching criminals. I’ve seen the clips — criminals will get smart by wearing balaclavas or spray painting the lenses. This is merely a façade and this sense of
security is ultimately worth nothing.

Though everything I do on Whyte Avenue is in a public area and anyone can view it — hence, public knowledge — when cameras are involved, I have no idea who is potentially recording and tracking me. Not only that, but I don’t know the reason either. This is abusive, and is a clear invasion of my privacy. If you can only follow someone in person, which is a daunting and expensive action, then at least I’d be able to tell that a Mantracker is on my tail, if for no other reason than he’d be riding a horse down the sidewalk. Now that would be worth recording.

But not much else is. If a CCTV camera tracked my every move on Whyte, all it’d discover is that I always park a block away for the free parking, I’m a frequent patron of many of the Avenue’s delightful boutiques with little or no cause, I’ve had my fair share of visits to drinking establishments on the weekends, and that I’d never be caught smoking.

What does this all add up to? Though these seem like meaningless pieces of information, a pretty good profile of me comes together. I’m sure that in the hands of the government, data such as this could be used for very sinister means — tailored advertisement, polling messages, or exploitations of my bad habits.

It’s clear to me that CCTV is the first step in breaking down our will and our rights. Once we’re accustomed to CCTV, our lives will be no different than Minority Report, where corporations and governments stalk us, noting our minute-by-minute details, slowly killing all our freedoms. And since I’m not Tom Cruise, and would likely be among the first to be offed, I disapprove of this direction.

CCTV doesn’t benefit society, and for the government to spend the money needed to initiate this program, another group other than the public must be profiting. CCTV works, but not the way it was designed for the public good — its ultimate use will be spying on citizens. It will continue to grow and one day rule every aspect of our lives, even creeping into our homes because that will be the norm. Though this may not be a malicious program today, it’s a slippery slope towards a world where every move is tracked and everyone’s profile is stored safely on a government server.