This morning, in a relatively brief post, I commented on the illusion of security provided by closed-circuit TV (CCTVs) cameras, the proliferation of these surveillance devices in Toronto's downtown core in the lead up to the G20, and the promise by Toronto police to remove the cameras after the summit.

A friend of mine who works in privacy and security thought I should provide more evidence on how CCTVs do very little other than chip away at privacy and civil liberties. I agree with him. Here's some additional evidence, hopefully buttressing my previous argument.

A breach of civil liberties and privacy

Professor Andrew Clement is providing Torontonians with a vital service and opening up a discussion on public space, surveillance, illusions of security, and whether the Toronto Police Service will keep its word. Clement is part of a project called G20 Surveillance, which is posting pictures of closed circuit TV (CCTV) cameras proliferating around Toronto in the lead up to the G20 meeting.

It appears that Olympic host cities, Whistler and Vancouver are full of creepy crawlies these days, but it has nothing to do with bedbugs or rats.

Over the past few months, law abiding citizens along with dissenters of the 2010 Olympic Games have been visited in some form or another at home, at work, or by phone by the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU).

When you have a billion dollars security budget to play with, the sky's the limit.

In Vancouver, members of the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) have been pulled over by the VPD and asked to comply with a "random" identity check. Chris Shaw explains being pulled over by the VPD.