Surveillance

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-17-cameras-cities_x.htm

1.Summary:
The article discusses the addition of more video surveillance cameras worldwide, and how they are helping the police catch criminals as well as find terrorists. It also lists some cases in which video cameras were used to solve crimes.

2.How did the IT development emerge?
The IT development emerged because people were scared of terrorism, and the cameras are very helpful to the police when they are trying to solve a crime. It gives them solid evidence to use. The fear of terrorism will encourage more surveillance. The London cameras were set up initially to combat the Irish Republican Army. Likewise, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led New York City and Washington to increase video surveillance.

3.Who are the stakeholders—individuals, institutions, societies who initiate and control the IT developments and are affected by them?
The people that control the IT developments are the government, and in the US this is mainly the Department of Homeland Security. They have increased the number of cameras to combat terrorism. The people that are affected by them are the individuals that are being watched by them. They criminals are the ones that lose the most from the installation of more cameras because it creates a higher probability that they will be found if they commit a crime, and cold hard evidence to pin them to the wall in court.

4.What are the advantages and disadvantages for the stakeholders?
The advantages for the government and the police are that they are able to catch criminals and have evidence against them, and the advantages for the public is it protects them in a roundabout way because violence is less likely to happen under surveillance. The disadvantages for the public are that it does invade their privacy and they are constantly being watched, and this may not rest easy with some people. The disadvantages for the criminals are that they are being watched and if they commit a crime it is easy to find out that they did it.

5.What feasible solutions can be applied to overcome problems?
The other solutions that could combat terrorism and crime that are not surveillance is the addition of different types of security, such as policemen or radar points in cities, as well as more metal detectors. In high risk places people can be frisked or put through a metal detector to make sure that they will not be too harmful to the other people in that place. The increase in policemen will make the public safer because they will be able to be at the scene of the crime quicker, or ideally be there to help out when it is needed.

6.What is the social impact of the IT development on human life? This may include some or all of the following areas: economic, political, cultural, legal, environmental, ergonomic, health and psychological.
The economic impact on human life is that it costs a good amount of money to install these cameras, and this is money that could be used for different purposes to help the people such as feeding the homeless and supporting people who cannot support themselves. The legal impact of this is that it does invade peoples privacy because if they are constantly being watched they do not have any privacy. This also brings up psychological issues because it could make certain people paranoid if they are always being watched, or at least uncomfortable.