Mobile phones turning "surveillance society" on its head?

[Tzer2]

The UK's Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been commenting on alleged police brutality during protests at the recent G20 conference in London. The head of the IPCC has apparently said that "the widespread use of mobile phones by protesters to take photographs and video footage of the clashes was providing invaluable evidence" in investigating three separate incidents including one death. Many worry about intrusive surveillance putting too much power in the hands of authorities, but perhaps cameraphones are turning the tables?

Read on in the full article.

[ccraig]

the Camera' on my phone's are probably the most under used feature, But i do see how important and how even more so they will be in the future especially as video capture is getting better.
maybe i should try use mine more I'd probably enjoy it and as i live on a nature reserve i could probably film so awesome things

[car_guy143]

I agree. Without the use of camera phones, none of these recent incidents would have ever come to light as there wouldn't have been the vital evidence needed to support these claims.

Yes, cameraphones are THE best tool currently in challenging the authorities. It is essential for democracy to have something like this that keeps them in check. And not just the police, but for dealing with crime too. Random yobbish violence, gangs, and organised crime all needs to know that a cameraphone may well be watching them even if they think they are protected.

What we need now is more integration with live video streaming off the phone, so that evidence is IMMEDIATELY protected, and so that perpetrators of abuse or crime cannot cover their tracks by confiscating the camera. This is perfectly possible - video calls are one obvious and immediate but too low res solution.

We also need a site that publicly gathers such evidence and allows it's immediate dissemination. This is also where filesharing technology comes in very useful so that such a site could not be shut down by the authorities. People power is an enormously effective and useful in controlling authoritarian power and common crime.

Of course, it's now illegal to take a photo or video of a policeman. At a protest where there are thousands of people doing it it is unenforceable, but if you are on your own when you see an officer up to no good you'll probably find yourself getting arrested as a suspected terrorist, and your phone conveniently wiped.

Paranoid? Sadly, no.

[Tzer2]

Of course, it's now illegal to take a photo or video of a policeman.

I'm not aware of any such law, and I've never heard of anyone in the UK being prosecuted for taking a photo of a policeman in public.

Care to enlighten us?

and your phone conveniently wiped.

Makes no difference, you can upload your photo instantly onto the web nowadays.

[dmery]

The recent law that criminalises some taking of pictures of officers is section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008. For more information, see for example: Poor at mind reading? Snap a copper and get ten years in the slammer.

There's another angle that the one of the story that originated this thread in which mobile phones are turning surveillance society on its head: they're becoming voluntarily electronic tags. See The mobile phone as self-inflicted surveillance.

br -d