According to the study, there are 1.85 million CCTV cameras in the UK where every citizen is caught on camera 70 times per day, British media reported.
The revelation, together with another assumption that tiny drones could be used to spy on the British people, has fueled the controversy that the UK has turned to become a police state.
Deputy Chief Constable Graeme Gerrard, the lead on CCTV for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said the latest numbers, based on a map of CCTV systems in Cheshire, were intended to “inject more rigorous figures into the debate” over Britain as a surveillance state.
“A widely quoted estimate of 4.2 million cameras in the UK was based on a 1.5km road in a busy shopping district and extrapolated out for the entire UK”, he explained.
And the previous estimate that the ‘average Briton is caught on security cameras some 300 times a day was based on a fictional tour of CCTV hot-spots’, added Gerrard.
“The figure of 1.85m is still a significant number of CCTV cameras”, he admitted.
Gerrard confirmed he was surprised to learn of other research which suggested the London underground network houses as many as 11,000 cameras.
However, Isabella Sankey, director of policy at the campaign group Liberty, said the figures would do little to allay concerns about surveillance in Britain.
“Who cares if there is one camera or 10 on their street if that one camera is pointing into your living room?” she asked.
“Concerns about CCTV are not a simple numbers game; what’s required is proper legal regulation and proportionate use”, added Sankey.
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