Dialling crime stoppers, faster than a speeding bullet

Following the Australian government launch of a Neighbourhood Watch program, allowing citizens to tip off the police by SMS or even better, sending in a snapshot of a crime while it's being committed, The Age, takes a (ironic) stand on the public image of camera phones not only being redeemed -- thanks to citizen sentinels, but as being elevated to the level of secret agent heroism.

"There are some curious and slippery value judgements in all this. It's laudable to take phone-photos of people committing a crime, but damnable to do so after the criminals have been convicted. [...] The line between being a photographic crime-buster and a stickybeak perv is perilously thin".

emily | 12:41 AM | Privacy Concerns |
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/2003/07/001049.htm

Tweet