Who's watching you?

published March 31, 2011

in the Stockton Sentinel

Stockton, Kansas

            Last Sunday, CBS Sunday Morning featured a “Fast Draw” segment by Josh Landis and Mitch Butler entitled, “Big Brother is Watching You.” Their report revealed that cities, counties and states across the U.S. are increasingly using cameras to monitor our activities. They cited an example of a city in New York where Google Earth was used to locate unapproved swimming pools, netting $70,000 in fines for their city. Cameras all over the country are being used to issue citations for traffic violations. One town in Illinois pulled in a million bucks in fines in just three months from drivers running red lights! Also being used in various locations are scanners that process license tags and nab drivers who have unpaid vehicle taxes, expired registrations or have skipped out on parking tickets. All of this happens unknowingly to drivers as they go about their every day jaunts from here to there and everywhere.

            I’m  suggesting Stockton should install some cameras at the only stoplight in Rooks County, right here at the crossroad of highways 24 and 183, and nail those 18-wheelers (and other vehicles) that fly through red lights. I think that would bring in some hefty revenue for the City of Stockton!

            I enjoy playing around with Google Earth where I can zoom in on literally any place on earth. Traveling by mouse, it is possible to take a trip and never leave the farm. I have zoomed around the world, looking at locations in Europe, South America, and Africa (a place on my bucket list!) and more recently, locations in Japan. The images in my version of Google Earth show how the now-ravaged area looked before the earthquake and tsunami. Obviously news programs we see on TV have access to current, up-to-the-minute satellite images, allowing them to zoom in on how the disaster area looks today.

            Closer to home, I have floated above Stockton, Webster Lake and the surrounding areas, plus other familiar places, such as my hometown. It’s fun to sit here at my computer and electronically pull into the driveway of my parents’ home in Goessel. What really freaked me out, however, was when I started out from my driveway here in Stockton and traveled by mouse up the street on North First. There, just three blocks from our home is me – riding my bicycle to work! What are the chances that a satellite, a few thousand miles up in space, would take a picture of the United States on a warm summer day and capture me riding bike?

            The thing to keep in mind is this: you never know when or where a camera, scanner, or satellite in space is taking your picture. Think about that the next time you run a red light, skip out on paying your vehicle taxes, or skinny dip in your backyard pool!