The article Big Brother’s Big Business talks about a compelling story in Newsweek a while back.  How Hidden Surveillance Cameras have invaded our lives forever.

Video surveillance has become the fastest-growing industry within the major categories of electronic security—with nearly one in four major cities in America investing in new technology, analysts say. It has more than doubled in the last five years, becoming an estimated $9.2 billion business in 2005 and expected to grow to $21 billion by 2010, says Joe Freeman, a columnist for Security Technology & Design Magazine and founder and president of J.P. Freeman, a market research and consulting firm.

Newer technologies are spear heading the explosive growth in hidden camera surveillance.  The ability of a hidden camera to operate over the Internet for remote monitoring and for the data to be recorded on digital video recorders (DVRs) or (VCRs) are major milestones in the daily use of these hidden cameras.  Not to long ago a hidden camera needed dedicated wiring for each camera and recording could only be accomplished on a Video Cassette Recorder.

In addition to the digital revolution, cameras have advanced chips that can recognize unusual conditions and send that video feed to security personnel.  This allows a smaller security staff to handle more hidden cameras which is lightyears ahead of the old world of CCTV.

Today’s advanced hidden camera systems can even reduce the load on conventional police:

Chicago has made recent headlines with its ongoing installation of 2,000 such hidden cameras in its downtown areas, and the city is negotiating with local businesses to link their private hidden cameras to the city system in an effort to form a single, unified network. And many small towns—in states from California to Vermont—have begun using hidden cameras as a way to reduce the need for on-duty officers in local police precincts.

Big Brother’s Big Business reveals that the number of video cameras in New York City may exceed 15,000, making it hard for anyone in the city to escape their hidden camera ‘eye’.  The public in general is divided on the use of a hidden camera. One one hand, they approve hidden camera video surveillance as an anti-terrorism and anti-crime tool. But on the other hand don’t like recorded by a hidden camera themselves.

Related posts:

1. What are Good Uses for a Hidden Camera?
2. 10 Ways To Use A Hidden Camera
3. The Pros and Cons Of Using A Hidden Spy Camera

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Tags: digital video recorder, digital video recorders, hidden camera, Hidden Cameras, hidden surveillance cameras, private hidden cameras, surveillance cameras, video cameras, video cassette recorder, who is using a hidden camera in america

This entry was posted on Monday, October 16th, 2006 at 11:36 pm and is filed under Hidden Cameras, Home Security, Surveillance News. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comment will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.