China Keeps 2.75M Eyes on Public

Millions of Security Cameras Installed Since 2003; Expanding System into Rural Areas

(AP)  China's police say they have installed 2.75 million surveillance cameras since 2003 and are expanding the system into the largely neglected countryside.

The cameras are the most visible components of police surveillance and notification systems installed around the country, mainly in urban areas, according to a news release posted Monday on the Public Security Ministry's Web site.

Such systems have proved controversial in other countries, especially in Britain, which reportedly has 4.2 million surveillance cameras installed - or about one per 14 people. British police say the system has in fact done little to bring down crime.

No debate over privacy rights has taken place in China, where the ratio of cameras to people stands at only one to 472,000, and where tight communist political control and broad and intrusive police powers have long been the norm. The camera-to-person ratio is believed to be much higher in China's cities, with the capital Beijing having 265,000 cameras, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

But China's moves to combine surveillance cameras with face recognition software has raised concerns about how the equipment will be used. It is not clear how many surveillance cameras in China use such software.

The police news release said widespread camera installation began in 2003, but did not say whether that had made a dent in the crime rate or helped police crack more cases.

Thefts, burglaries and purse snatching have all more than doubled since the 1990s amid rising wealth inequalities and relaxed social controls, with about 4.75 million cases reported in 2007, the last year for which statistics were available. However, police say violent crime has declined in recent years with better enforcement of rules governing weapons and explosives.

The police news release said the Public Security Ministry had recently decided to expand the use of security cameras in the countryside, which is home to about 800 million of the country's 1.3 billion people. Such efforts should "put the safety of the broad masses of the people first and foremost," the release said.

While rural crime is not considered a major problem, the vast, largely impoverished countryside has long suffered from a lack of social services including schools, hospitals and community policing.

[incog-nito]

Surveillance cameras. GPS tracking. Police cars that scan 1600 license plates per minute. Soon they can look through walls and into your home. This technology is real, and it's in our future.

[barbaram99]

Gone looked it up. The thing that scares me is a one world govt. It is wrong. The bushes talked about it. Us Ameicans are falling for it. The nanny govt. Wells wrote War of the World. He was a sci fi writer.
Ameica is falling to his ideas.

[barbaram99]

Would someone plase tell us what Animal Farm is about. I read 1984 on talking books years ago. I am 54. I can't see their cameras but know there are out there. They have cell with GPS. I 'member a day we did not cameras everywhere. I miss those days. My ID is not smart. I leave it home.

[ass_u_me]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm

[cyberus-2009]

Starting to look like George Orwell wasn't wrong .. just premature on his date

[ass_u_me]

Perhaps I will re-read that book ("1984").

[I_am_me1953]

Need to reread "Animal Farm" by George orwell also. We may be heading there.

[jechaucer]

OK. So what's the big deal. Are you naive enough not to know that we (U.S.) have camera's everywhere as well. For every camera you do happen to spot, there are dozens more you don't see. You are being watched at work, in airports, in banks, in stores, state and government buildings, on public streets, etc. Oh, don't forget all the babysitter's we are peeping on in private homes. As technology progresses things will get worse. Wait until the smart ID card comes to use. It works by sending a signal via GPS allowing the government to track where you are at all times. We are living in a new era. Unless the people rise up and revolt a new future, thousands of times worse than "1984", will be in store for all of us.

[barbaram99]

They have camras here in Seattle. It has not stopped crime. People do it more they knoed they are being watched. I have heard the UK has camras. Their in the bus,cab,stored etc. Some computers have a web cam. I bought a used Notebook that that don't. The news did a story on it. Sighted people love to be seem. The line has to be drawn. In the home/apt. I hope not. i do not want others watching me bathe,change my chothes.
I am awre they are tidy and can be put anywhere. I see it as a waste of money. Ye mean kttping big Bro safe and controling otherd. That is want it looks to me. I am aware they are there. I call call them spy cams. It is nanny govts that waste the money and lie to people. Safe I think not. Put there to cover their asre. They have stories on the news of abuse and it is taped. It was better before cameras.

[gunownerdan]

Many people see Geroge Orwell's story "1984" to be a warning of what could come.
Unfortunately governments tend to see it as a road map!

[I_am_me1953]

1984 Orwellian future isn't the only thing we need to be ever vigilant for.

Go read or reread George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and think about it.

[Oregon_State_OSU]

China wants to keep track of everybody and everything.

[jwesel1]

NY and Chicago have more surveillance cameras than China

[specialty8]

After the thrashing Obama got from China a few weeks ago on his spending spree, it will be here before long.

[funslideds]

"...Britain, which reportedly has 4.2 million surveillance cameras installed - or about one per 14 people".

1:14? That really surprises me. I wonder what's next.

[gunownerdan]

You want to know what's next?
Now the UK wants to put cameras inside the homes of "problem families" so the government can make sure their kids are being taken care of properly! It's going to cost $700,000,000 to watch 20,000 families!
It's 1984, but just a few years later.