Following the bombings in London authorities are asking citizens to hand over camera phone images and video of the attacks in an attempt to identify the perpetrators.
According to the BBC, the police "believe the footage could provide vital clues as the search for bodies and forensic evidence continues."
I have mixed feelings about an appeal to the public to hand over images on the speculation that they may or may not prove useful in the investigation.
What is clear to me from this story is that we are now living an era where the use of camera phones will make everyone a potential "big brother."
Get The Picture?
I fear that cherished civil liberties in democratic societies such as privacy rights will soon get trampled and shuffled aside for the sake of the so-called "greater good" of the whole.
More than 1,700 people have already responded positively to the appeal to "hand over" images, but there is still a dangerous precedent being set here -- one that needs to be explored more deeply and in the calm light of reason.