The NannyCam State

Anyone who has ever seen The Truman Show - the cinematic wonder about Jim Carrey living unwittingly inside a 24-hour reality TV show of which he is the central protagonist - has inevitably sat down on the sofa at home and warily scanned for the cameras capturing our every move. Just us? I don’t think so.

We cannot deny the existence of the vast surveillance networks monitoring Britain’s streets. And it can’t be for the purpose of worldwide televisual entertainment because we can’t imagine very many people tuning in to watch us get up from our book manuscript to make the fourth cup of tea that evening.

In Biteback’s new title Big Brother Watch: The state of civil liberties in Britain, a variety of academics, politicians and cultural commentators explore the notion of freedom in a society that keeps an increasingly close eye on our everyday activities. Right now the British public are subjected to a range of surveillance methods posited as ways to increase our personal security. These include CCTV cameras, of which there are more here than in any other country in the world, and a DNA database, also the largest per capita in the world. As well as these there are the frequently debated issues of identity cards and the controversial Stop-and-Search powers granted under the Terrorism Act.

Although these things affect us personally and can inspire very differing individual opinions on civil liberties, they must be governed in terms of the whole country, and are frequently debated within parliament. Before the weekend, Nick Clegg shared his belief that the current system of control orders, through which suspects may be put under virtual house arrest without trial, should be altered. He stated:

“The principle that virtual house arrest is being applied to people who are not convicted of crimes in the courts is a principle that I am deeply, deeply uncomfortable with… We are determining, together, with painstaking care, how to keep people safe in a way that upholds our values and traditions.”

Clegg is attempting to find a balance between national security and personal freedom. However, even if the current regime is altered, will it really make much of a difference?

The expert contributors to Big Brother Watch - Alex Deane, Guy Herbert, David Davis to name a few - highlight the increasingly illiberal nature of life in modern Britain as well as how to fight these intrusions and protect our civil liberties.

Big Brother Watch: The state of civil liberties in Britain is available to order here for £9.99.