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7 months left to watch (or download at BBC iPlayer).
Last broadcast on Mon, 29 Jun 2009, 02:35 on BBC One (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
Series that looks at why the UK has become one of the most watched places in the world - with millions of CCTV cameras, a growing network of number plate recognition cameras, one of the largest DNA databases in the world and government plans for the basic details of all our phone calls, emails and every internet site we visit, to be logged and kept.
The logic behind this is that we all benefit from better crime detection and from simpler and cheaper services. The government argues that 'If you've got nothing to hide, then you've got nothing to fear.'
Richard Bilton explores the hidden world of surveillance. He goes inside the CCTV nerve centre, sees how all our journeys can be monitored and meets undercover agents, those who are watched and those who have fallen foul of modern surveillance.
New road cameras 'unregulated'
The BBC has learned that a national network of cameras watching over Britain's roads will be in place within months.
There are already thousands of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras that can read and log registration plates, but soon police forces in England, Wales and Scotland will be able to share the information in one central computer.
Officers say it is a useful crime-fighting tool but critics say the network is secretive and unregulated.
Richard Bilton reports.
Credits
- Presenter
- Richard Bilton
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