"Pervasive security cameras don't substantially reduce crime. This fact has been demonstrated repeatedly ... There are exceptions, of course, and proponents of cameras can always cherry-pick examples to bolster their argument. These success stories are what convince us; our brains are wired to respond more strongly to anecdotes than to data. But the data are clear: CCTV cameras have minimal value in the fight against crime."

Britain is one of the most monitored countries in the world, with an estimated four million cameras nationwide but an internal report released by the Metropolitan Police disclosed their ineffectiveness in fighting crime, noting that “for every 1,000 cameras in London, less than one crime is solved per year.”

The author looks at how Britain became the "world's premier surveillance society", with over 4 million CCTV cameras in active use, and how the use of these devices to track the subway bombers have changed the debate.

In light of the recent wave of terror attacks in the UK, Turkey, and Egypt, biometrics technology is increasingly being discussed as a means to tackle terrorism, not to mention fraud and theft.

Artificial noses that sniff explosives, cameras that I.D. you by your ears, chips that analyze the halo of heat you emit. Together these developments herald a high-tech surveillance society that not even George Orwell could have imagined -- one in which virtually every advance brings benefits as well as intrusions.

The use of surveillance cameras in private businesses and public spaces has been a matter of debate for some time. But even as the controversy becomes more heated, the use of surveillance equipment is surging, driven by new digital technology, falling prices and terrorism jitters.

An in-depth look at the implications of ubiquitous webcams, tracking devices, and interlinked databases on individual privacy and security.

The American Civil Liberties Union has released a new report on the many ways the United States is "drifting toward a surveillance society, and what we need to do about it."

[ Link to Full Report ]

The many post-September 11 surveillance upgrades -- and ever-savvier hackers -- ensure the further erosion of privacy as we knew it.

For two decades, high tech moved inexorably toward greater convenience and personal empowerment.The trend was toward a decentralized system of ever-smaller, cheaper and more powerful gadgets. These days, fear of terror is shifting the emphasis to centralized surveillance meant to make America safer.