Big Brother is watching you...

Had a thought recently following on from the terrorist attacks in the UK:

If we had hi-res CCTV in most public places, along with a DNA database of the entire population (including those peskly tourists

;-)), then would it dramatically cut crime?

At the moment, TV programmes like Crimewatch show low-res, grainy CCTV footage that doesn't look very useful. Hi-res will presumably arrive sooner rather than later and could help massively in identifying criminals.

Similarly, imagine how simple it would be to solve crime by turning up, swabbing the scene for DNA and get an instant ID.

I'm not saying that this is a good thing - it's open to misuse like most technology - and the privacy concerns are significant.

But it could also be useful in proving one's innocence. Hi-res CCTV will make misidentification more difficult, and DNA identification could similarly be used to prove that you were NOT the culprit.

Just a thought...