By Frank Fourchalk
Few will argue the past few years have seen more video cameras than ever before. This is because of the ongoing decrease in purchasing and operating costs associated with these technical marvels.
With the birth of wireless, came a decrease in installation costs. Computers with the help of the internet opened up a whole new world in the surveillance industry. A world that now accepts digital streaming and image compression as matter of fact.
Whether we like it or not, video surveillance of public spaces, private sector parties, and property owners is here to stay. But it's the public places that presents the fury. We are so used of freedom of movement, how dare the police and other law enforcement infringe on our privacy!
But before we jump on the 'invasion of privacy' bandwagon, lets understand what this whole scenario means. Canada began operating CCTV (closed circuit television) video surveillance on public parks and streets about 10 years ago. We have been living with the obvious for years in banks, convenience stores, industrial sites, offices, apartment buildings, public transit stations and don't forget the two most publicized areas since 911, border crossings and airports.
The good news is video surveillance is here to protect us as Canadian citizens. The use of this sophisticated equipment has not only been beneficial in prosecuting crime it also acts as a legitimate tool to combat and ward off criminal activity.
CCTV cameras have also been extremely helpful in the search for missing persons. The days of operators squinting over tapes for hours hoping to get a glimpse of fuzzy subject matter are over. To-day we have something called, "facial recognition systems", and "pattern recognition software" that can optimize the use of the data.
The heart of the "facial recognition system" is a mathematical technique used to encode faces. This system maps the face and creates a face print, a unique numerical code for that face. Once the system has stored the face print, it can match multiple face prints at a rate of 60 million per minute from memory or 15 million per minute from hard disk.
As you can see surveillance cameras play an important role in keeping our communities safe, but if you're one of those people who still feels your privacy is breached, keep in mind the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) offers guidelines to help define and circumscribe the use of this medium.
Guidelines that set out and show the principles for evaluating the need for resorting to video surveillance and for ensuring that, if it is conducted, it is done in a way that minimizes the impact on privacy. To read more on these guidelines go to http://www.privcom.gc.ca/information/guide/vs_060301_e.asp
