Denmark: government plans for more CCTV cameras
The Danish government is presenting a new security package today that among other measures foresees a massive increase in the number of CCTV cameras in public spaces. The country's press is firmly against increased surveillance.
The private sphere is a human right
Politiken doesn't see sufficient justification for such a restriction of civil liberties:
“Why not? some may argue for security reasons. If you don't have anything to hide, you don't care about being filmed. But this perspective is wrong. Privacy is a human and inherent right which does not require justification. On the contrary, the state must have weighty reasons to restrict this right. And Mette Frederiksen doesn't have them in today's safe Denmark.”
Conditions like those in the GDR
It's nothing less than grotesque of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to justify the surveillance by saying it will prevent crime gangs from getting too close to citizens, Berlingske criticises:
“Her answer is tragicomical because the government is about to do exactly the same thing, namely monitor the people's behaviour, lifestyles and thoughts. During the Cold War the world was divided into free and unfree societies, and a shiver runs down our backs when we think of the circumstances in which people lived in the GDR, so close to us. On which side do we want to be when technological developments make surveillance ever easier, cheaper, more effective and more tempting? Mette Frederiksen owes us an answer.”