Oct 11 Is International Day of Protest Against Surveillance

Boing Boing has a recent post that refers to a day of protest being organized in the EU. Some excerpts:

An international protest against undue surveillance is being held next month on the 11th of October. It is ‘a broad movement of campaigners and organizations is calling on everybody to join action against excessive surveillance by governments and businesses’. We need to get this on the radar for the elections in the USA this year, the EU parliamentary elections next year and many more.

People who constantly feel watched and under surveillance cannot freely and courageously stand up for their rights and for a just society. Mass surveillance is thereby threatening the fabric of a democratic and open society. Mass surveillance is also endangering the work and commitment of civil society organizations.

My personal view is that most so called security measures, including CCTV is security theatre that does not have any significant effect on actual security. For those that say “if you are doing nothing wrong, what’s the problem”, take a look at this Washington Post article.

I look forward to the results of the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s research into public surveillance techniques and technology.