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Closed Circuit Television, often abbreviated and referred to as CCTV, is "a television transmission circuit with a limited number of reception stations and no broadcast facilities�? (yourdictionary.com, 2004). It is used for video surveillance in public and private spaces. Cameras are linked to a central control room where the images can be remotely monitored by a single person (Norris and Armstrong, 1999, p. 18). Permanent records of the images can be kept for later use.
The development of CCTV dates back to the 1960s when the videotape and the Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) were introduced (Norris and Armstrong, 1999, p. 18). The videotape and the VCR made it possible to capture images on film without the need for chemical processing. They allowed a cheap and simple method of recording and provided a possibility for instant playback.
In its early years, CCTV was used to monitor traffic (Chaos Computer Club Köln, 2005) and to prevent and detect crime in banks. Soon, it became attractive to the retail sector “as a means for deterring and apprehending shoplifters�? (Armstrong and Norris, 1999, p. 18). By now, it is widely used and can be found in town centres, shops, shopping centres, banks, building societies, parking facilities, schools, colleges, hospitals, transport facilities, industrial estates, business centres, football grounds, police custodies and housing projects (Phillips, 1999, p. 123). One example of CCTV usage in street surveillance is the New York City Surveillance Camera Project.
The increasing use of CCTV is closely linked to changes in society and politics. “The growth of CCTV surveillance can ... be seen as merely one element in a sophisticated array of technologies aimed at classification, uncovering deviance and inducing conformity�? (Norris and Armstrong, 1999, p. 20) next to the establishment of DNA databases, the monitoring of electronic communication via email and Internet use.
Today, the use of videotapes and VCR in CCTV systems is outdated. “Videotape, for all its advantages as a recording medium, is a poor archive medium for the purpose of classification comparison and identification�? (Norris and Armstrong, 1999, p. 19). Changes occurred with the introduction of digital media. “The digitalisation of images allows them to be processed automatically by computer�? (id.). One example of a CCTV system transmitting, recording, evaluating and storing digitalised images is SISTORE CX.
General characteristics of digital media content include them "being manipulable, networkable, dense, compressible and indifferent to what is represented"(Flew, 2005, p. 83). Thus, digital images can be changed ex post wherefore the security of the data has to be ensured. Measures to protect the system therefore have to be in place, such as embedded systems and/or password protection.
With the processing of images becoming automised, social and privacy issues arise. People fear that society is moving towards panopticanisation (Norris and Armstrong, 1999, p. 219). For instance, when databases are coupled with cameras and automated identification systems, it will be "possible to create a log of the movements of individuals as they move through space (and) automate assessment of all peoples' moral worthiness as they enter a locale based on information contained in the database" (ibid., p. 221).
This development can be looked at from two angles. On the one hand, it serves the initial purpose of CCTV which was to detect and prevent crime. With advanced technology in place, crime could be discouraged to a higher degree than before increasing the security of the individual. On the other hand, technological improvements in CCTV systems are perceived as an intrusion to the private sphere of the individual. Often secretive and invisible to the individual, CCTV produces records of people without their knowledge. This does not only have social, but also legal implications with regard to data protection and use.
There is an ongoing discussion about the effectiveness of CCTV in detecting and preventing crime. Different arguments for and against the use of CCTV in public and private places can be found on the Caslon Analytics Privacy Guide website. Critics, however, warn to insist on one side of this discussion. "[I]t is necessary to take a 'realistic view' that 'either position could in principle be correct' but that the current reality is both 'messy and contradictory' and above all dependent on the social and political contexts in which it is deployed" (G. Marx quoted in Norris and Armstrong, 1999, p. 226f.).
In the last fifteen years, the number of CCTV systems has highly increased. In Great Britain, there had been about 100 cameras installed in 1990, while in 2002 there were over 40,000 cameras (Caslon Analytics Privacy Guide, 2005). This is only the number of cameras operated by local government. Overall, around 1.5 million cameras in 400 communities could be found in 2002.
This example points to a shift from mass surveillance to maximum surveillance (Norris and Armstrong, 1999, p. 205ff.). The ubiquity of CCTV and its use will not only increase due to additional cameras, but also because of technological improvements that enhance the systems. Political measures have to be put in place to protect the individual while at the same time ensuring that CCTV systems help making public and private space more secure.
References
Caslon Analytics Privacy Guide (2005)"CCTV and other Cams", retrieved August 18, 2005 from http://www.caslon.com.au/privacyguide20.htm
Chaos Computer Club Köln (2004) "Die Geschichte der Kameraüberwachung in Deutschland", retrieved August 18, 2005 from http://koeln.ccc.de/prozesse/zombies/cctv/geschichte2.xml
Flew, T. (2005) New Media: An Introduction, 2nd ed., South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, ISBN: 0 19555041-2.
Norris, C. and Armstrong, G. (1999) The Maximum Surveillance Society: The Rise of CCTV, Oxford and New York: Berg. ISBN: 1 85973 226 7.
Phillips, C. (1999) “A Review of CCTV Evaluations: Crime Reduction Effects and Attitudes towards its Use�?, in K. Painter and N. Tilley (eds.) Surveillance of Public Space: CCTV, Street Lightning and Crime Prevention, Crime Prevention Studies, vol. 10, New York: Criminal Justice Press, ISNB: 1 881798 22 4, 123-155.
yourdictionary.com (2004) dictionary entry: Closed circuit, retrieved August 18, 2005 from http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/c/c0416000.html
Internal Links
SISTORE CX
Privacy
External Links
Closed curcuit television
Surveillance
Mass Surveillance
Security
Contributor: Caroline Jende 22:17, 1 Sep 2005 (EST)
