Spy for Prizes, UK citizens told
“A company calling itself Internet Eyes is going to launch a worldwide internet surveillance tool for citizens to spy on each other over live CCTV in exchange for the chance to win cash prizes,” says a Fa$ebook Group.
“All cctv camera feed locations are anonymous and randomly generated… we never disclose the location to the viewers, who alert anonymously so there is no fear of retribution,” says the Spy for Prizes Fa$ebook page.
No worries, then.
Rat someone out and you won’t get your legs broken.
It’s hard to imagine anyone seriously proposing a business with one person spying on another as its foundation.
But on second thoughts, it isn’t really surprising. The UK already has more closed circuit television cameras surreptitiously watching its citizens than any other country, and it’s now contemplating the introduction of remotely controlled spy aircraft.
Spying on each other is, in other words, a way of life in the British Isles.
“The company had initially offered to pay out up to £1,000 if registered viewers spotted shoplifting or other crimes in progress,” says the BBC.
But the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has stopped Internet Eyes “operating fully while it investigates the plans,” says the story, going on, “The ICO is making sure the site meets data protection laws, considering issues including training of staff and identification of people in footage.”
According to Internet Eyes sales and marketing manager Max Patey, the company is already in touch with the ICO.
“We have always been aware that we have to abide by the laws in regards to data protection,” he says in the story.
“The ICO has been very kind to us and we will adhere by their suggestions.”
Some 13,390 people have already registered but there’s “nothing for them to view at the moment,” says the BBC, adding:
“Last month, the site’s managing director, Tony Morgan, told BBC’s Inside Out London programme that it was not ‘a game’ and that viewers would not know exactly which camera they were watching or where it was located.
“We are just rewarding people for their vigilance”, he said.
It’s interesting that the company apparently has such unrestricted access to government surveillance cameras in the first place.
Keep watching …
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