Panopticon

Very watchable and well put together doc. Well paced, so i could digest the many startling developments of invasive surveillance into all of our lives. From Supermarket loyalty cards, travel cards, CCTV to mobile phones and myriad ways of getting stuff onto our PC's to detect what info we're sending out. Much of this has always been openly carried out But RE: 'sensitive' info which we previously thought was subject to privacy protocols has been subject to the insidious creep of more ingenious ways of getting at it. Ways have developed to circumvent these and very often, even encryption isn't sufficient to keep the nosy parker's out!

Along with this, the creep is justified by governments "we need to do this for your security and well being" citing around 500 deaths due to terrorism in Europe (more deaths are due to falling down stairs!) yet Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain, 2012: Killed 1,754; Seriously Injured 23,039; Slightly Injured 170,930; Technology is available to reduce these casualties to almost zero. Also, the welfare/NHS cuts/rise of food banks etc, while The super-rich – the top 1% of earners – now pocket 10p in every pound of income paid in Britain, while the poorest half of the population take home only 18p of every pound between them. I ask "is our welfare's so important to governments"?

Impression is that most people accept this invasiveness because "they have nothing to hide" yet a question "why have curtains?" to some members of the public revealed to them just how important privacy is and as to why they should be concerned. I'm convinced that if a referendum was carried out in UK with all the facts/arguments presented (as in this doc) the result would be for at least a substantial reduction of the surveillance, if not an outright rejection - as they have in Germany; where they have historical experience of dictatorships, Gestapo, Stasi. They know the dangers of data gathering, with potential abuse, ID errors, tech flaws. There seems poor prospects of a referendum for such huge surveillance which is deplorable for a so-called "democracy". Governments can change goalposts too and i remember when non-violent protesters around the time of Occupy St.Pauls, were labeled by Police as potential terrorists. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/05/london-police-listed-occupy- protesters-as-potential-terrorists/ It's necessary to campaign hard for the rejection of the unnecessary surveillance, while no one is protesting the targeting of legitimate suspects of terrorism.

You don't have to do anything wrong, you simply have to fall under suspicion from somebody, even via a wrong call. They can use this system PRISM to scrutinize every decision you've ever made, every friend you've ever discussed something with & attack you on that basis. To derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer.

ED SNOWDON: The primary lesson from this experience was that "you can't wait around for someone else to act. I had been looking for leaders, but I realized that leadership is about being the first to act." I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity."

"Oh, I don't do anything wrong, I don't care if they listen". Well, over the course of a lifetime you have conversations through electronic mediums that can be twisted to make it look like you are a bad guy. Maybe you don't really mean it, maybe you are just musing or blowing off steam. But you said it, there is record of it, and someday maybe will be held against you in secret court to secretly detain you indefinitely. The potential for blackmail is so great that there is no way that this won't be used for nefarious means. It's the thought police at worst, and things like this will always eventually be at it's worst.