Britons are the most spied-on folk on the planet

A FAIR FEW BRITS are miffed at the idea of ID cards, of being caught on security cameras far too many times a day, and generally worried about their privacy.

According to a new study by privacy watchdog Richard Thomas, things are only going to get worse as Britain ventures more and more into a sci-fi-esque surveillance culture.

Technology is already being used to constantly track and routinely record the day to day activities of Brits, warned the information commissioner. Not only this, but so-called "pervasive" surveillance will most likely be on the up in coming years. In an example outlined in the report, a man leaves his house in a car, passing through a gate which notes down his time of leaving and the amount of passengers, not to mention their identities. Thousands of CCTV cameras track his entire journey, while remote controlled spy planes apparently fly above, capturing images of the streets below and sending them back to the police.

Many people however will brush off surveillance as a necessary evil, keeping the streets safe, combatting terrorism and other National Worries. However, it's likely to bring about a climate of suspicion and undermine trust, thinks Mr. Thomas.

It's a frightening thing to think about, and Richard Thomas is trying to wake people up to the fact that they are being watched by invisible or subtle surveillance technology, every single day. Big Brother ain't only a reality show on channel 4, and it's not just an Orwellian fantasy. Mr. Thomas commissioned an independent report to see just how heavy surveillance is likely to get in ten years time.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing predictions is secret facial recognition systems planted in lampposts and walls which will be able to monitor the movement of the British public.

Co-author of the Surveillance Studies Network report David Murakami Wood reckons the people of Britain are in for a shock: "The level of surveillance in this country should shock people - it is infiltrating everything we do. The question is whether we want that or not. Most people do not understand how the information is used - for example details obtained from supermarket loyalty cards and credit cards are bought and sold to other companies," he told The Independent.

Wood also warned that the surveillance culture that we have "sleepwalked" into will create real problems for individuals, including "social exclusion, discrimination and a negative impact on their life chances." "Unfortunately," he went on to say, "the dominant modes of surveillance expansion in the 21st century are producing situations where distinctions of class, race, gender, geography and citizenship are currently being exacerbated and institutionalised."

It's definitely something to think about. From April 2005 up to now, 631 adults and 5,751 youngsters have been electronically tagged and monitored. Not to mention, it's entirely possible that an individual can be captured on CCTV over 300 times in a single day. µ