Smile... you're on camera

via NewsFeed comes this article on protester's thoughts on cameras. Apparently, they think that having them tape police officers is the best thing since sliced bread, but having the police officers tape them is a massive violation of their civil rights.

It seems odd to me that protesters who are standing on a public street, usually yelling, holding attention-grabbing signs, and the occasional paper-mache head, are complaining that their rights to privacy are being violated. According to the article, police aren't allowed to tape until a crime is committed - when it's too late to catch the crime on tape. Scorecard - criminals 1, police 0. I feel safer already.

There is some hope that the policy will be revised. It amazes me that there is so much outcry about taping protesters -something I don't think most people have a problem with, and something that affects a tiny group of people, yet there has been little outcry about the cameras used by police that I really can't stand - red light cameras. They affect most people, but since normaly working people have better things to do than complain about their privacy rights on public streets, they pay their fines and get on with their lives.