Please smile! Because wherever you travel, someone could be watching you. Even from the other side of the world. Are you currently traveling in Japan? Ordered sushi from that dimly lit bar counter in Tokyo’s Ushikanda Building? Bon appetit, but you still have to practice a bit with the balancing chopsticks!
Or are you just sitting at the Larchmont Yacht Club in upstate New York and want to enjoy the beautiful view of the sea in peace and to yourself? Well, unfortunately, you are not really alone, because there is a surveillance camera installed behind you, and of all things, this can be found and accessed by anyone on the web. So there could be millions of users right now checking the camera pointed at you on the reddit.com/r/controllablewebcams forum page.
Or are you browsing for a souvenir at a market in Vancouver, Canada? Zoomed in: Well, the baseball cap doesn’t suit you, if you’d like to call out via the screen, you’d better use a different one. But you don’t even know that you are being watched in real time. Many of these cameras in public spaces can actually be controlled via mouse from any computer in the world. As soon as we leave the apartment, the world watches.
The locations with freely accessible cameras change, but new ones are constantly being added, everywhere. disturbing. When traveling, one is aware that, for example, airports, train stations and sights are monitored for security reasons. This is in line with your own need for protection. Also, the material is usually deleted after a while. But there are also countless cameras in shops and restaurants.
The security portal Comparitech.com has collated the number of known public surveillance devices in 150 international cities with over a million inhabitants. Around 770 million surveillance devices are currently in use around the world. Are you traveling to China? Then take a look around in Beijing or Shanghai. More than half (54 percent) of the devices are in Chinese cities.
With 691,000 cameras, London has the densest surveillance network in public space in Europe. Misbehaving in Trafalgar Square? Not a good idea.
But you don’t have to travel as far as China or Great Britain. A trip within Germany to tranquil Wiesbaden is enough. On the station forecourt, six or seven surveillance cameras, arranged on a pole like an ostrich, stare at a park bench under a plane tree, on which at most one visitor sits.
In general, the Hessian state capital is well monitored: in the city center alone there are currently 18 masts with 73 high-resolution cameras, some of which can be swivelled. The data obtained is stored for 14 days. The whole thing runs under the motto “Safe Wiesbaden”. So: Please smile on the Rhine!
If you see a camera again somewhere in the world the next time you visit, you can always sit in its blind spot. Or rather just put on a baseball cap.
A woman suddenly fainted on a train platform in Argentina. She staggers and slips under an oncoming train. Waiting passers-by rush to her aid. The woman sustained only minor injuries.
Source: WORLD
