Nowadays, CCTV has become a controversial issue.


Pro


Our society has a lot of problems including murder, theft, kidnapping, and beating. Furthermore, there are many sexual assaults in our society. We need an around-the-clock surveillance system like CCTV. People who intend to do illegal acts fear CCTV. We can prevent many problems by using CCTV.

We can live more safely after CCTV is installed. For example, if CCTV is installed to observe illegal acts, the possibility of doing illegal acts is lower than before. According to one investigation, most criminals feel worried about CCTV, and they commit illegal acts in places which have no CCTV. The investigation shows that CCTV is important for preventing crime.

Furthermore, because CCTV is efficient for preventing crime, CCTV should be installed on the way to school, in children’s playgrounds, and dangerous places like dark backstreets. Therefore, the government is preparing to set up an around-the-clock surveillance system which is linked to the police. A supervisor watches the CCTV and calls the police when a suspicious scene is captured on the CCTV. The installment of CCTV in necessary places and using that system will improve the possibility of arresting criminals and reduce the possibility that crime will happen. According to one article, the possibility of arresting criminals improved after the system was installed in Anyang in Gyeonggi-do. Also, through the CCTV system, we can discover fires and call 119 immediately to save lives and buildings. We can live more safely with CCTV.

In the past, there were some problems when the police tried to figure out a criminal’s features because the image quality was not good. However, nowadays, image quality has improved, and the police can identify people who are 150m from the CCTV. It is not difficult to recognize a suspect’s features anymore.

CCTV is needed to protect children and to arrest criminals. It will make our society safe. Therefore, the government should support the installment of CCTV.




Con


Nowadays, CCTV is installed in many places. The reason is insufficient police manpower, and the demand for security is increasing. This issue has become controversial because it can be an invasion of privacy.

All over the country, CCTV has been installed at bus stops, public facilities, working places, apartments, and parking lots. CCTV is for safety, but personal information is collected which could be used by those who have negative intentions.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea estimate that there are 2.4 million CCTVs in public facilities and 25 million CCTVs in private areas. They said that an individual is captured by CCTV 83.1 times a day on average. Private CCTV is increasing fast, but we don’t have any law to regulate private CCTV.

Nowadays, CCTV is connected to the Internet, so it enables people to abuse CCTV easily. Because CCTV is connected to the Internet, it has risks like hacking. If video which includes personal information spills out onto the Internet, it will be a big problem. Because of this, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea is worried. One example showed that CCTV is abused for crime. A robber hacked into a CCTV network using the Internet and got information from CCTVs which were installed in side streets and houses. Through the CCTV information, he knew when householders went out and came home. Finally, he committed a crime.

In public baths, there are numerous CCTVs. About 70% of public baths have set up CCTV, but that can be problematic in invading privacy. Some public baths have set up CCTV in prohibited places like dressing rooms, shower rooms, and sleeping rooms. However, customers don’t know whether CCTV is installed. Kwon Huk-jang, chief of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, insisted that CCTV should not be installed without a specific law to protect personal information.

Because of CCTV installment, invading privacy is a big problem. If someone observes what you are doing in daily life, it will be horrible. I think that CCTV should not be set up without a specific law. We should make CCTV regulations.