China aspiring to be as much of a police state as Britain.

[TheEgoist]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=103061

" The ratio of cameras to people in China stands at one to 472,000, while in Britain, with more than 4.2 million surveillance cameras, the ratio is one camera per 14 people."

Wowzer. China has some catching up to do.

[Capitalism Forever]

An important distinction which the article does not seem to make is whether a camera is installed on private property by the owner or whether it's a government camera. (Of course, if the government can seize the recordings of private cameras any time it pleases, then there is indeed little distinction to make ... Not sure how exactly it is in Britain, but whenever I saw a camera staring into my face there, I presumed it was the government watching me--perhaps not entirely incorrectly.)

[tito]

An important distinction which the article does not seem to make is whether a camera is installed on private property by the owner or whether it's a government camera. (Of course, if the government can seize the recordings of private cameras any time it pleases, then there is indeed little distinction to make ... Not sure how exactly it is in Britain, but whenever I saw a camera staring into my face there, I presumed it was the government watching me--perhaps not entirely incorrectly.)

Worse, many private CCTV cameras (certainly those in bars) are actually linked to the police camera system here, so they can be directly monitored and recorded from the police camera centers.

Though I too wonder what percentage of these are government cameras. Most streets where I live (in a small town) have police cameras on them, recording 24/7 - but these are far outnumbered by the cameras belonging to shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. All businesses seem to want uniform CCTV coverage - which is often totally excessive - but their prerogative nonetheless.