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Izzy Armendariz

Ms. Sordan

ERWC

20 March 2016

The Government and Security Cameras

The United States government holds a great amount of power.

The use of surveillance cameras make that power much more frightening. In George Orwell’s

novel, 1984 we are shown what would happen if a government became far too powerful. Even

though the United States government may not be to the point of Big Brother’s ruling in Oceania,

it is possible for it to come very close to it if power is not controlled while it still can be.

In Oceania, the fictional country in the novel 1984, Big Brother and his government have

ultimate power over all of their citizens. A specific example of this power is their type of

surveillance camera which they call a telescreen. These telescreens are placed in every room of

every citizens’ home in Oceania where their every move is being monitored throughout the day.

However, each citizen is allowed to turn their telescreen off for thirty minutes at a time. These

monitoring systems are able to hear every word being said and every move that a person makes.

Essentially, these telescreens take away all privacy for the citizens of Oceania.

Surveillance cameras in the United States today have many differences compared to those

of Oceania’s society. Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell claims that surveillance camera’s

being used by his department are “not running a camera-monitoring center, but it will allow

[them] to see what happened or is occurring on a street or intersection”. He also claims it “it

won’t be a case of ‘big brother is watching’ because a central control center will enlist the

private cameras only when police know an incident is unfolding in a certain area”. The cameras
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used in the U.S. are said to be used only for the purpose of safety for its citizens. This may be

true, but with the resources that these surveillance cameras provide to the government and its

officials, the power could easily be abused. These cameras may help the safety of those living in

America, but they also take away some of the freedoms that people have. For instance,

surveillance camera’s put up on public, residential streets may be able to view citizens on their

private property, which in turn takes away their right to privacy. These cameras may be for use

of safety within those neighborhoods, but they may however compromise the rights of everyday

citizens in order to do so.

There is also the issue of surveillance cameras located within smartphones. Because the

majority of United States Citizens carry these devices within them on an everyday basis, they are

the biggest threat to their privacy and rights. As said in an article by Peter Maass and Megha

Rajagopalan titled That’s No Phone. That’s My Tracker, “Cellular systems constantly check and

record the location of all phones on their networks – and this data is particularly treasured by

police departments and online advertisers”. This shows how the government is able to obtain

private information on its general public, something that compromises their rights to privacy

very blatantly. In order for the United States government to become one that resembles that of

Oceania’s, the power they have must be abused fully, not in just a few aspects of control such as

surveillance cameras. “Every year, private companies spend millions of dollars developing new

services that track, store and share the words, movements and even thoughts of their customers”

states Paul Ohm in the article titled That’s No Phone. That’s My Tracker.The telescreens used in

Ocean in George Orwell’s novel 1984 are used for full control over all of its citizens, whereas

those used in today’s U.S. society are said to be used only for the safety of Americans. This may

be true, the U.S. most likely is not abusing the power of having surveillance cameras for “safety
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uses” but if they did begin to, this type of power could be coming very close to the type of

government present in 1984’s Oceania.

Works Cited

Maass, Peter. “That’s No Phone. That’s My Tracker.” New York Times 13 July 2012: n.

pag. Print.

Winton, Richard. “Long Beach Police to Use 400 Cameras Citywide to Fight Crime.”

Los Angeles Times 15 Aug. 2012: n. pag. Print.