Walsall Wonderland

Or somewhere in the middle?

My fiancé and I got to talking about those ‘naked scanner’ things they’re still trialling in Manchester Airport and whether we thought they were appropriate or not, so I got to looking it up afterwards.

My initial reaction was like that of many fellow Brits, disgust at a government gone mad with how far it can invade a person’s privacy and that sort of thing, though my fiancé was a little different in his reaction. He said that he would prefer being able to just be scanned rather than have to be searched if the occasion should arise, and I can agree that I too would feel the same way. I think that the regular metal detectors should be used in airports, but that if the need should arise for a specific person to be searched more thoroughly, then they should be asked if they would prefer to have the full body scan, rather than the physical search, I don’t think that these ‘naked scanners’ should replace the regular ones, but a ‘next-step’ if something is iffy about a traveller.

Whilst I was looking up that issue to find the BBC article, I also found a few other things along the same lines that are interesting. Britain has the largest amount of CCTV cameras per person in the world! No other country has them in the same kinds of numbers per capita that we do! It also seems to do very little for us! Though I’d guess that criminals would be caught more often, even if they’re not deterred by the cameras. That just makes them seem stupid… here’s hoping they all win Darwin Awards.

New technology with GPS vehicle tracking is also being implemented, but this is mostly for businesses, I think. I don’t actually have a problem with this, I think it’s a good idea for family vehicles, too. How nice would it be if, say, someone was missing? You could look this up and find out where the car was, maybe they ran off the road and just knocked themselves unconscious? Or if your car was stolen?

RFID tracking, however, seems wrong to me. Well, wrong for companies to be able to put into products to see who is buying them, that’s just whack and a serious invasion of privacy for no good reason. See, that’s the defining point as to whether I’ll personally say something is okay or not. The reason behind it. With the ‘naked scanners’, CCTV cameras, and GPS vehicle tracking, there are all security reasons for implementation; they can help to keep us safe. The RFID tracking, however, is purely for commercial purposes, and therefore not appropriate. If this technology was being used to keep tabs on potentially dangerous items, guns and chemicals, now that’s a brilliant idea if I do say so myself!

Okay, now for a knitting pattern. In keeping with the reason behind this post, I’ll have to link a knitted toy aeroplane.