magazines: daniel salo; surveillance Sources: ABI Research, New York Civil Liberties Union, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Pelco Security, United States Census Bureau, Darpa, DelFly
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Back in December 1996, sci-fi novelist David Brin warned that street cams would soon be everywhere ("The Transparent Society"). In his dream for the future, every citizen would have full access to the image stream. So far, the authorities have enjoyed a one-way view. But Brin was right that each year, surveillance tech would get tinier, more mobile, and more clever.
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Camera Boom
Eyes on the Street
Small-Town Sentinel
Estimated value of the US surveillance cam market in 2000: 2.4 billion
Estimated value in 2007: $4.7 billion
Number of visible street cams in lower Manhattan in 1998: 769
Number of street cams in 2005: 4,176
Estimated number by 2009: 7,176
Cost to install a camera in the town park in Liberty, Kansas (funded by a federal grant : $5,000
Population of Liberty, Kansas: 95
View to a Kill
Flight Time
Secret Agent Moth
Number of feet from which a camera can read a license plate: 1,000
Percentage change in red light violations after Philadelphia installed cams: -96
Hours an unmanned surveillance helicopter can hover: 18.7
Minutes a robo-dragonfly (toting a minicam and image-recognition software) can fly: 3
Cost to produce a moth cyborg, which Darpa hopes to turn into a remote-controlled spy bug: $15
Grams a moth cyborg can carry: 5
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