Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Web Game Rewards Voyeurs for Monitoring Real Security Cameras

by Caleb Johnson on October 6, 2009 at 02:20 PM

In what he says is an effort to combat petty crime, a British businessman is asking wannabe spies to take part in a revolutionary Internet game. Next month, Tony Morgan will launch the crime-fighting service Internet Eyes, which will allow regular citizens to watch for criminal activity through closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) installed in businesses around town.

According to The Daily Mail, if someone spots something questionable, he or she will simply click a button on the Web site, alerting the business owner via text message. Then, the owner will be able to decide whether or not there's enough evidence to report the activity. Players are awarded points for correctly identifying a crime and deducted points for incorrectly reporting one. At the end of the month, the player with the most points will receive a cash prize. It's free to spy play, but businesses will be charged around $31-per-week for each camera they list on the site.

Although we'd think criminals would be shaking in their boots, some critics warn that such a service will only create paranoia and allow voyeurs to get their kicks. "It will not only encourage a dangerous spying mentality by turning crime into a game but also could lead to dangerous civil rights abuses," says Charles Farrier, director of the No-CCTV pressure group.

Last we checked, there were people called police that performed such a service for us. Let's allow the boys in blue to do their job, rather than some would-be Batman with a laptop. [From: The Daily Mail]
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=550464&pid=550463&uts=1254777202
http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf
Is Your Neighborhood Safe?

Death of Print

    Elle Girl
    In April 2006, Elle Girl's print edition was closed down, but the Web site lives on at ellegirl.com.

    CosmoGirl
    Though it will be folded into Seventeen magazine, the teen version of Cosmopolitan will publish its last print issue in December 2008. It will live on at CosmoGirl.com.

    Christian Science Monitor
    Founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, this venerable paper will move all its daily content to the Web starting in 2009, though it will still publish a weekly print version.

    Radar Magazine
    Was it too snarky for its own good? We'll never know, but this modern-day successor to '80s-era Spy magazine shut down in October. AMI, owner of the National Enquirer, bought RadarOnline.com, however, which will focus on celebrity gossip a la TMZ.com.

    US News and World Report
    Once a serious competitor to Time and Newsweek, US News and World Report is now best known for its College guides, which it will continue to publish. The weekly newsmagazine, however, will be turned into a monthly, and all daily operations are moving to the Web at usnews.com.

Tags: camera, cctv, crime, criminal, games, privacy, spy, top, video, web

Comments

2

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular