tive but to establish a strict police state.Another negative consequence of c.c.t.v. is that it allows businesses to monitor itsemployees. Employers will have the opportunity to prevent employees from doinganything that does not directly benefit the businesses productivity. Doing so in effectdehumanizes the employee, reducing them from individuals to mere machines; robotswhose sole function is to turn a profit for the business. While this may not be a tremendous problem in the U.S. because of our basic laborlaws, it is becoming disastrous in less-developed countries. Do to the trend ofglobalization, manufactures are setting up factories in countries where labor laws areminimal or even non-existent. And with closer surveillance the conditions in thesesweatshops will be allowed to deteriorate dramatically. Employers can watch fromthousands of miles away, knowing when underpaid employees are doing such counterproductive things as eating or taking bathroom breaks. What is needed to eliminate the threats posed by c.c.t.v. use is a means of makingthe system accountable to the public. The surveillers need to be held responsible for whatthis information is used for. It is essential that we prevent such a powerful tool of socialcontrol from being used almost exclusively for economic benefit.Without democratic oversight of surveillance technologies such as c.c.t.v., weremain at the whims and desires of those operating the systems. It is naive to think that ifwe dont challenge each instance of such social control that the situation will improve. More likely is that each step we take towards a police state that goes unchallenged willallow for each subsequent step to take place. And after each step it becomes increasinglydifficult to reverse the trend....
