Big Brother IS watching you

Who's watching you today?

We're waking up in a surveillance society, that we've sleep-walked into. That's the view of the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas.

Several aspects of our lives are being tracked and monitored, and the situation could get worse in the next decade.

Whether it's CCTV cameras, mobile phones or swipe cards, Big Brother really is keeping an eye on us, as every day we leave an electronic footprint behind us.

The issue of surveillance is being discussed at a conference today, and it's backed-up by the publication of a report called "A Surveillance Society".

The report will be presented to a conference hosted by the Information Commissioner's Office.

The ICO, headed by Richard Thomas, promotes public access to official information, and protects personal information.

We'll have more on today's Breakfast, and at 7.00am, we'll be talking to the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas

We want your views, how concerned are you that you're constantly being watched? e-mail us now

Even innocent looking supermarket loyalty cards can be used to gather data about your shopping habits, but while many see it as an invasion of privacy, others take the view that if you've got nothing to hide - you've no need to worry.

Today's report predicts that a decade from now, we will all be subjected to even more surveillance.

We could be 'scanned' as we enter shops, and be given an electronic record of what our children eat at school.

It all sounds very similar to George Orwell's book 1984, that was published in 1949, that predicted the way our lives would be controlled in the future, and we'd all be monitored by "Big Brother".

Today's report says that the current state of surveillance has come about, almost without us realising it.

We want your views, how concerned are you that you're constantly being watched? e-mail us now

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