In recent years there has been a growing trend involving the use of closed circuit Many businesses are using these cameras to monitor shoppers largemetropolitan areas have started using these systems to view people in public areas.Thesecameras can be extremely small and are often hardly noticeable. But few people it seemshave stopped to consider the possible impacts these cameras have on our lives. And it isthe negative consequences that may very well outweigh any of the potential benefits. Currently there are no adequate laws regulating the use of such cameras, and it isunlikely that without public outcry that there will be any instituted. Both the United StatesCongress as well as the Supreme Court have been decidedly silent on this issue. Due tothe conservative nature of both of these institutions our personal liberties will most likelycontinue to be of secondary importance to social control interests.The main argument for the use of closed circuit television is, of course, ourprotection or safety. The benefit comes by making the consumers feel more secure whilethey shop. This in turn allows them to purchase more which directly helps the business. This may appear to be successful from a business perspective, but it cannot hope to solvethe root issue of our social problems. All it can do is mask the fact that our society hasthese such problems. Until the basis of these problems are addressed they cannot besolved, and they will only continue to get worse. By ignoring these problems we can onlyaggravate them.The fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution is very explicit in guaranteeing ourprotection from unreasonable search and seizures, and this is fundamentally what therampant use of c.c.t.v is violating. Because there are no laws regulating its usage,innocent people will continue to be scrutinized and evaluated for no substantial reason. Such monitoring allows the notions of reasonable cause or search warrants to becompletely igno...
