From J. Monk
Walton on the Naze
I am writing this on a cheap PowerMac which, with the addition of some
£1000 of software, is capable of editing a video recording down to pixel
level. I could for instance put a totally different face on a moving figure,
change a vehicle numberplate, or put an item into someone’s hand. When the
edited video is recorded back onto tape, it would be virtually impossible to
detect the fakery.
Video tapes are now accepted as evidence in criminal trials, and the thought
of what professional equipment could produce is horrifying (This Week, 12 April,
p 4). Rather than put all our trust for this Orwellian state of affairs in the
hands of just another department of the government (which can never be
guaranteed not to turn pathological), would it not be more sensible to fit every
closed-circuit TV camera in a public place with a low-power transmitter such as
those freely on sale for under £10?
Anyone within a few hundred metres could tune in to the signals at will. The
courts could then refuse to accept as evidence any tape that was not backed up
by an identical one from a third party, like Neighbourhood Watch. It then
becomes harder for fraudsters to fabricate evidence.
Advertisement
If the signals from your local neighbourhood surveillance cameras were
available in your own home, there would be many advantages. Those who had been
threatened could look out for ambushes, those confined to their homes could do a
useful service by recording for the Neighbourhood Watch, and it could even show
you when the queue outside the Lottery shop is too long, so you could have
another cup of tea.
