How To Choose A Digital Camera

Do Hidden Cameras Violate Your Human Rights?

It's no secret that they are abundant in many places. Shopping malls are full of them. Many offices have them, and even city streets have them placed in either heavy populated areas or outside night clubs and markets. Most of go about our lives blissfully unaware of their presence. But they see all, and miss nothing. In case you are still wondering, I am talking about hidden cameras.

Ever since the camera became a portable, electronic gadget, there have been hidden cameras in existence. They weren't quite so pupular at first and initially, people viewed them as a complementary device that enhanced the capabilities of security personnel and manual monitoring techniques. After all, the possibilities for using hidden cameras were enormous. They could be used to monitor the employees at work who deal with precious materials. This is why mints and mines became some of the first places where hidden cameras came into popular use. I have a friend that works for a security firm and counts money for a living, and you can bet your life that she is watched every second.

Hidden cameras can also be used to record the activities of untrustworthy people. Which is why the police force have adopted them as a means to entrap some of the less desirable elements of our society.

Most of us have nothing against this as it benefits us to be protected but when employers began using them in modern day offices to monitor the movements and activities of their white collar employees, all hell broke loose. There became a very fine line as to what was actually legal and when your privacy was being violated. And so the Human Rights Act was pulled into the picture and there was an outcry and clamor for legislation banning the use of hidden cameras in certain places. In actual fact, a few years ago the owner of Harrods in London was Headlined and had to go to court for putting hidden cameras in the staff toilets! In my opinion this is an obvious invasion of privacy.

Today, things have changed a little, and these pressure tactics seem to have worked. Nearly all shops, institutions and offices are required by law to declare the fact that they have hidden cameras on their premises. But it doesn't really matter. A concealed camera or a cleverly camouflaged camera is practically a blind spot. And mere declaration of intention to monitor does not address the question of whether monitoring is really necessary in the first place.

Of course in the case of my friend you can understand the reason for her activity being monitored and would not object to it in hose circumstances. I believe that certain areas require monitoring. Airports should have hidden cameras to prevent against terrorist threats, public places need to have them to ensure law and order and prisons to keep an eye on the activities of the inmates and make sure that wardens can act quickly when the need arises.

You will probably have your own views as to when monitoring people with hidden cameras becomes a violation of their human rights but like it or not they are a part of life and we have to accept them.