By Xinhua
Washington : The Bush administration is funnelling millions of dollars nationwide to buy high-tech video camera networks for street surveillance, media reports said.
The move could accelerate the rise of a “surveillance society” in which the sense of freedom that stems from being anonymous in public will be lost, said privacy rights advocates, according to the report in the Boston Globe.
Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has doled out millions of dollars on surveillance cameras, transforming city streets and parks into places under constant observation.
The department never disclosed how much of its taxpayer-funded grants have gone to cameras.
But researches and congressional press releases show that a large number of new surveillance systems, costing tens and probably hundreds of millions of dollars, are being installed around the country as part of homeland security grants.
Last month, US cities that have moved forward on plans for surveillance networks financed by the DHS include St. Paul, which got $1.2 million for 60 cameras for downtown; Madison, which is buying a 32-camera network with $388,000; and Pittsburgh, which is adding 83 cameras to its downtown with $2.58 million.
Small towns are also getting their share of the federal money for surveillance to thwart crime and terrorism.
The expanded use of surveillance in the name of fighting terrorism has proved controversial in other arenas, as with the recent debate over the administration’s programs for eavesdropping on Americans’ international phone calls and e-mails without a warrant.