Roger Moroney says he has no issues with CCTV and security cameras and such for if one is not behaving poorly and is not breaking the rules then no worries.
Roger Moroney says he has no issues with CCTV and security cameras and such for if one is not behaving poorly and is not breaking the rules then no worries.
OPINION
It was back in the (Orwell) fitting year of 1984 that big brother was indeed watching me.
My late big brother Paul, who like me was bewitched and smitten by motorcycling, was happy to let me out for a bit of a squirt on his tidy Yamaha 600.
Heknew I enjoyed a spot of pace but made the point (of course) that if I were to bend it I would have to mend it.
I left my well-hammered 350 Honda at this digs and took the Yammy out for a stroll ... and big brother watched and listened closely ... until I was out of sight and earshot of course and then I gave it a nudge.
Now here we are in 2022, no hang on, 2021 (time is surging by so fast) and it is very clear that "watching" is now a strong ingredient of the consumerism agenda.
George Orwell would have been bemused, but I daresay quietly delighted at the way things have been going.
For I was reading The Times the other day as I languished at a bar down in Soho (I call the backyard Soho and the picnic table is the bar) and was only mildly surprised to read the latest "film them" goings on, for such escapades are on the rise in these dreadful e-times.
Okay, I have no issues with CCTV and security cameras and such for if one is not behaving poorly and is not breaking the rules then no worries.
When I see a security camera I often expose myself to it.
I mean I expose my acceptance by smiling ... well that's what I've told my lawyer to say.
So anyway, welcome to this age of surveillance on the consumer front, although I have to make it clear here that the latest vid-tech misdemeanours have emerged from China, although, as is often the case, they could be happening in other parts by now.
But they are dashed good at starting things in China.
As the Times article noted "a large number of stores have installed cameras to track customers without their knowledge."
Yep, they had placed "facial recognition" cameras next to cashiers and store entrances so they could "analyse" the identities, behaviours and spending patterns of their shoppers.
It's a little like when you check something out on Google and the next time you enter that world little ads pop up ... which veer toward the subject you had previously been digging into.
They are watching.
And on the property development front in China cameras have also been sent in to prey.
Which, according to the story, has led to many potential property buyers, who got wind of the camera scheme, turning up wearing full-face helmets or masks.
On the commerce and retail front if one is suspicious the cameras are rolling then perhaps draw a third eye in the centre of your forehead ... or attach a little Groucho moustache ... you'll look like Adolf Hilter and will be accordingly struck off the "contact" list.
As for those out-of-the-blue phone calls from "can we sell you something" robots just give your name as Leonardo Amin ... tell them you're Idi's brother.
On that note, I once told a verbally shambling git who rang while The Chase was at its play-off peak that I liked the look of his office surroundings and that his shirt looked pretty cool too.
Roger Moroney
Click.
The other good one is to tell them to hang on and you'll go and check the computer they appear to have concerns about ... and just go out for a walk ... for an hour.
They are wasting your time ... time to waste theirs.
* Roger Moroney is an award-winning journalist and observer of the slightly off-centre.
