After yesterday’s brief ray of sunshine, the apoplexy returns following my being alerted to this story by Paul and Mr.E
POLICE and councils are considering monitoring conversations in the street using high-powered microphones attached to CCTV cameras, write Steven Swinford and Nicola Smith.
The microphones can detect conversations 100 yards away and record aggressive exchanges before they become violent.
What the fuck!?! I mean, what the fucking, fuckitty, fucking fuck?!! Just what shit-for-brains fucktard knobhead came up with this little gem? For crying out fucking loud! Just what is it with this fucking intellectually bereft country that not only allows this crap to happen, not only doesn’t go out on the streets en masse and slit the gizzards of the authoritarian fuckers proposing it, but, doubtless is so devoid of imagination and understanding of history, will be looking at this story and thinking “’bout time, too.” That’s why these arseholes get away with stealing our privacy and liberty, because the sheeple not only let them but are so fucking stupid that they approve of their own slaughter. For fuck’s bloody sakes!
Okay, breathe deep, think calm thoughts, slowly, slowly, breathe out…
The Association of Chief Police Officers has warned that a full public debate over the microphones’ impact on privacy will be needed before they can be introduced.
Oh, good. Then, of course, they will do as they usually do following consultation; the wankers will ignore the gainsayers and carry on anyway.
Last Friday a Sunday Times reporter visited the office of Sound Intelligence in Groningen to test the system. The reporter stood in the control centre with a view of an empty room on one of a bank of monitors. Van der Vorst entered the room, out of sight of the camera, and began making aggressive noises.
This is for real? Apparently so…
The camera swivelled to film him and an alarm went off in the control room, designed to alert police to a possible incident. “The cameras work on the principle that in an aggressive situation the pitch goes up and the words are spoken faster,” said van der Vorst. “The voice is not the normal flat tone, but vibrates. It is these subtle changes that our audio cameras can pick up on.”
If this was a Monty Python sketch, I’d be laughing. Unfortunately, life has surpassed parody, leaving it withered in the shade unable to compete with the bright colours and sounds of reality. The blood pressure’s up again, chaps.
And yet some terminally fucking stupid souls maintain that all this stuff is not linked together in some way. I would despair at British society, but it’s happening too often these days for that.
ACPO’s comment was entertaining. Getting the story straight is a house speciality for them, so my guess is that they’ll also take a very keen interest in the terms and circumstances of that ‘debate’. But certainly they’ll be working right now on how best to sell this one to the Home Office. ‘If you’ve nothing to hide, you’ve nothing to fear’ etc. ‘Privacy? What’s that, then?’
Does anyone take ACPO for anything other than a Trade Union for senior cops? I would not trust them a single inch, they are dangerous megalomaniacs.
Remember that this alleged “aggression detection” system is actually from the Netherlands, which is not that far behind the UK as the most spied on society in Europe.
Fear not, however, as no less a champion of privacy and civil liberties, the notorious David “Mastermind” Blunkett has, in his confused way, come out with a soundbite or two condemning the idea of audio recordings from street CCTV cameras. This is, of course, not quite exactly what the Dutch system purports to do.
He also managed to cite Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, rather than George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, with reference to such CCTV video and audio surveillance.
See “Blunkett confusedly opposed to CCTV audio snooping”