Powerful CCTV cameras capable of tracking faces from more than half a mile away

      Alright powderhead, for this post i have an interesting topic to show you. It is a continuation of the last post which is regarding CCTV. However, rather that explaining on the systems, i will show you the recent advanced CCTV system which not only the "advancement" of the camera technology but also the whole system.

High resolution camera with magnification capabilities

     Anthony Bond from Dailymail UK have stated the advancement of CCTV cameras which have enough resolution to track faces from half a mile away. The camera is said to have 16-megapixel HD cameras with the potential to pick out a face and then match it against a database of images of wanted people. It also said to comes with affordable prices. On top of that, a facial recognition technology that can be used together with the high-resolution camera is being developed.The UK's first surveillance commissioner, Andrew Rennison said that, Research being carried out into automatic facial recognition technology by the Home Office has achieved a 90 percent success rate and is still improving. The way it works is simply by using the high-resolution camera and at the same time use the facial recognition in the control devices to detect faces and synchronizing it with their own databases. Aside from faces, car plate numbers is also detectable, making it a much versatile surveillance technology.

An intelligence officer in a control room

A CCTV system in The UK

     Despite the advantages in surveillance capabilities and the increase in security, people are worried of potential human right violation such as privacy breach. Public concern regarding this matters can be seen in The UK. This is mainly due to the vast majority of video surveillance cameras in the UK are not operated by government bodies, but by private individuals or companies, especially to monitor the interiors of shops and businesses. Plus, the camera price is very affordable. Andrew Rennison has issued a stark warning to the British Government by saying that advances in CCTV technology risk turning Britain into a Big Brother society unless proper steps were taken to regulate the proliferation of the high megapixels camera.

Reference: 

1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212051/Powerful-CCTV-cameras-track-faces-half-mile-  away-breach-human-rights-laws.html

2. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/new-hd-cctv-puts-human-rights-at-risk-8194844.html