Benefits of Government Surveillance

Benefits of Government Surveillance

We live in a future where government surveillance is universal and unavoidable. Governments and major corporations have placed cameras, microphones and various other tracking devices all around the world, and they have also managed to store and process data in real time.

An obvious advantage of government surveillance would be the reduction of criminal activities. Total surveillance might completely eradicate certain types of criminal activities. Not many would commit easily monitored crimes such as breaking and entering or assault as they would be arrested within minutes.

Vigilance in various places such as cameras at stadiums or arenas that look for known fugitives, or cameras mounted on government building, streetlamps and traffic lights that monitor the surrounding area for crime, are also probably worth experimenting with. They can aid in catching some street criminals and dissuade other criminals from committing crimes. Terrorists would find it impossible to strategize their plans and organize their attacks. The possibility of them being caught may make many of them change their minds.

Government surveillance can also reduce the risk of government abuse: the camera that can record a criminal activity can also record police stops of citizens, which would provide substantial evidence of possible police misconduct and maybe even to some extent discouraging such misconduct. Video evidence could also prevent an arrest of an innocent individual. If these surveillance footages were stored for future analysis, this would again prevent perpetrators from committing the crime. We could also expect crimes such as low-level corruption to reduce as taking bribes would become risky for those who are constantly under watch.

The information that is collected for security can also be used to understand other aspects of the society in a better way. The data collected could be made accessible in the future to social scientists who could make great contributions in their respective fields. With people being more trusting, and less fearful, of each other, they could become more willing to help, more willing to participate in common projects, more pro-social and be more considerate to one and other.

References.

https://aeon.co/essays/the-strange-benefits-of-living-in-a-total-surveillance-state