[dTal]

The difference is that the inn keeper, a single person with no authority, a small social network, and a visual range measured in feet, is replaced by an invisible, omniscient, omnipresent organisation with the power to bring arbitrary legal troubles down on your head.

Only if all CCTV were to become publicly viewable at all times by everyone could we speak of it as a force for social cohesion, rather than a mechanism for amplifying differences in power.

[true_religion]

What I understand is that in Britain, for most cases CCTV is actually owned by private companies---like a shop will have a CCTV that watches its alleyway.

Even in the case where CCTV is owned by the government, its operated by individual city districts.

It's not a singular invisible omniscient organization.