The era of ‘Big Brother’ has arrived

Based on recent The Sun News articles and local TV reports describing the numbers of CCTV cameras and license plate readers installed and being installed in Myrtle Beach, it seems the era of Big Brother has arrived. I am truly troubled when I see data being collected on citizens who are not suspected or accused of a crime.

It appears the local government feels a need to surveillance citizens going about their daily lives in normal and routine activities who are not suspected of or accused of anything. Given the numbers of cameras and the installation of license plate readers I wonder the following:

▪  Are there protocols in place to strictly define how data is gathered and its use?

▪  If there are protocols, who developed them and do they meet national consensus standards?

▪  Does the protocol define the purpose (better yet the necessity) and provide justification for collecting this data?

▪  What safeguards are in place to assure the protocols, if any, are strictly enforced?

▪  How is the collected data used and by whom?

▪  How long is the data retained before being destroyed and who is responsible for its destruction? Or is it maintained indefinitely?

▪  Who has access to the data?

▪  What recourse do citizens have if data affecting them is used in an unlawful or damaging manner?

▪  Are there penalties if the protocols are violated?

Perhaps the city officials quoted in the articles saying crimes had been solved and other benefits accrued could specifically quantify them. That way the public, at least, could make cost benefit judgments; personal privacy versus government surveillance and invested dollars versus crimes solved or other public safety benefits.

The writer lives in North Myrtle Beach.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "The era of ‘Big Brother’ has arrived."