Communications of the ACM
Are Surveillance Cameras Worth It?
Henny Ray Abrams / AP Photo
In the aftermath of the attempted car bombing in Times Square, the debate surrounding the increasing use of surveillance cameras has once again moved to center stage.
Just days after Faisal Shahzad allegedly drove a bomb-equipped Nissan Pathfinder into the popular New York landmark, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and others called on the Obama administration to provide at least $30 million in additional funding for a surveillance program to blanket midtown Manhattan with security cameras.
"There is nothing more important than keeping New Yorkers safe from an attack. If anything was made clear on Saturday night, it's that New York is a target. We need to do everything in our power to deliver the funding to protect New Yorkers," Schumer said in a statement.
Although law enforcement officials and politicians insist that security cameras are a valuable tool for keeping the public safe, privacy advocates and some security experts say the cameras not only degrade privacy, but divert resources away from more effective approaches to security.
From ABC News
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