How Many Hidden Cameras Are Watching You In T.O.?

No, there’s not some perilous predator out to get you. It’s just one of the thousands of closed circuit video cameras keeping their always unblinking eye on where you are now and where you’re going next.

They’re all over the highways – there are more than 150 M.T.O. cameras and 53 City of Toronto RESCU lenses pointed at major thoroughfares.

Security video shoots you as you enter and leave a store.

There are cameras in cabs.

And there are electronic devices watching people walk along in the more populated areas of the downtown core.

You’re even on candid cameras when you stop for that cup of coffee or take out some money at your A.T.M.

Cafe Dilomatico is just one of many establishments that find the silent watchdogs useful. “It helps police, security, helps the area in case of break-ins, something like that,” explains the establishment’s Paul Mastranglo.

But not everyone thinks it’s worth the safety net. “It is an infringement, it feels infringing,” maintains local songwriter Laura Jean Kelly, who admits, “I don’t know of another solution at present.”

But while they may be intrusive, others believe they’re worth the privacy loss. “If you happen to lose your child, it’s just a safety precaution,” suggests a mother named Stephanie.

And there are always those who think if you’ve got nothing to hide, who cares who’s watching?

But even if you just go into your backyard, you’re no longer safe. Thanks to modern technology, satellites can see you wherever you are – and so can anyone who knows where to look at Google Earth or Microsoft’s Virtual Earth on the Internet.

So smile for the camera. Because even if you’re not looking for it, it’s looking for you. Whether you like it or not.

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