You may have heard about this already, talk of this service has been in circulation since October 2009 and is due to make an official launch shortly. Internet Eyes, as the service is known will be offering rewards to individuals for remotely watching CCTV footage from the comfort of their homes and to report occurrences of any crime observed.
The men responsible for setting up Internet Eyes, David Steele, Tony Morgan and James Woodward, claim that with over 4 million CCTV cameras available but not utilised efficiently, this project could be the biggest crime prevention scheme ever, by offering registered users the chance of earning up to £1,000 per month for participating in what may be considered a Global Neighbourhood watch. Participants will be rewarded for spotting and reporting, burglary, vandalism, shoplifting or anti-social behaviour.
Whilst this may be considered a great idea by some, there are also those who feel that this is simply a way of priming society into becoming snitches, and finds the fact that one has to pay a fee to participate make the scheme a BIG SCAM. People are also concerned with privacy and misuse of the system. Some has even dubbed the system a s a new Reality Game TV Show.
The online Instant Event Notification System is intended to help combat crime, and although the company’s terms and conditions state that images should not be copied, there is nothing to prevent this from happening, regardless of any Data Protection Laws. Therefore registered users are required to verify there ages and ID and pay a membership fee intended to prevent misuse of the system and act as a filter for those inclined towards voyeurism.
Other precautionary measures include; making the feeds both random and anonymous, no exchange of personal details, Viewers will not be able to receive CCTV footage from within the same postcode prefix, no exchange of location, premises or customers details and the Viewer will have no control of the CCTV images.
From the top of my head I can already start to think of ways of foiling at least 3 of the above, however I also know how to spot any manipulation so perhaps and hopefully for now, this system stands a chance of being successful.
The rewards will in a way compensate the membership fee:
• A £1000 per month for the Viewer who has made the best contribution to the
prevention or detection of a crime.
• A usage reward for time spent helping the community by monitoring live
CCTV footage
• A reward for recommending a friend
• Recognition for successful feedback
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