They didn't have this in 1984

How do you feel about surveillance? Personally I'm torn. Here's a couple nice examples of what I mean. First is a story about a ten year old girl who was saved from drowning because of an underwater camera system. It uses several cameras to monitor position and movement, in this case it sounded the alarm 10 seconds after she went under. Sounds pretty badass to me, I wonder how easy it is to fool. This seems like an excellent use of technology to increase public safety and life saving efficiency. (Also the name is cool. That alone makes me want to buy one)

The other story is about a soccer riot. Now I'm not for hooliganism, even if I do find it amusing sometimes. Think of this in a more general sense. I hadn't really considered that I basically carry a tracking device in my pocket every minute that I'm not at home. I know there are stories of people lost in the wild and rescued with triangulation. I'm even aware of the GPS services that are now in almost every phone. But I've always considered those things optional. You'd call 911 and ask to be located, or you select the option on your phone to transmit GPS coordinates. The example in this story isn't quite the same. This seems like quite the invasion of privacy to me. I know that it didn't happen in the US, so I'm hoping that some kind of warrant is needed to demand my information. Maybe part of my uneasiness is because I already feel that phone companies do whatever they want.

Anyway, just think about surveillance and what it means to you. There are more cameras on every corner, and we have less rights as individuals in the interest of public safety. How do we decide what is an acceptable invasion, and what is not?