Are Surveillance Cameras Necessary

While I do understand that surveillance cameras have many practical purposes in today’s world, I still find the very notion of them disturbing and unnerving. It is too easy to slip over the line between necessary and invasive . That line is just too thin. While I realize that many of the surveillance cameras are installed in buildings for sound reasons, the idea that I am being watched as I walk through a store, across a parking lot or into a city bus is unpleasant. I find myself feeling guilty and self conscious when I have no logical reason to feel so. It is similar to the feeling I get when a police car is behind me in traffic. I almost adopt suspicious behavior—fidgeting with my hair, glancing repeatedly at the cameras and shifting from one position to another—and just because I know that perhaps somewhere someone is watching my every move. Because surveillance equipment is so common, I also worry that it will be used improperly, either commercially or personally. I fear that these cameras will be put in places that are truly unnecessary , whether it be public restrooms, store dressing rooms or club locker rooms. While it sounds unlikely, I suspect that some people would find a way to explain the necessity of these particular cameras, one way or another. While a minimal number of surveillance equipment truly is necessary in a violent and crime-filled world as ours, I think there should be a plethora of requirements and red tape to fulfill before they can be utilized. If not, regular, law-abiding, honest citizens such as myself will continue to worry that they are being watched by “Big Brother” at all, and frequently inappropriate, times. Let me offer, as a summary of all I have said throughout the essay, installing more surveillance cameras in public places is not