But globally, many more cities are under increasing amounts of surveillance. In , IHS Markit predicted that there would be 1 billion surveillance cameras worldwide by the end of In , it also suggested China would have million cameras within three years, which is further supported by reports that the country has around million cameras within its Skynet project.
Based on a population of 1. Due to wildly different estimates and old figures, this seemed the most accurate and fairest way to try and gauge the sheer volume of camera figures in China. While China yet again dominates this study for its vast surveillance tactics, there are other countries whose surveillance tactics are of growing concern, including several Indian and Russian cities, Seoul, Singapore, London, Dhaka, New York, and Los Angeles.
Comparitech researchers collated a number of data resources and reports, including government reports, police websites, and news articles, to get some idea of the number of CCTV cameras in use in major cities across the globe. We focused primarily on public CCTVβcameras used by government entities such as law enforcement. Based on the number of cameras per 1, people, these cities are the top 10 most surveilled in the world:. As China dominates this list, we have included a separate table with the number of cameras per square mile of each Chinese city.
Therefore, this list features the top 10 most surveilled cities in the rest of the world:. Closed-circuit television CCTV cameras serve many purposes, ranging from crime prevention to traffic monitoring to observing industrial operations in environments not suitable for humans. The digital age has boosted the prevalence of CCTV surveillance. Cameras are getting better and cheaper, while live video streams can be remotely accessed, stored on the internet, and passed around.
The adoption of face recognition technology makes it possible for both public and private entities to instantly check the identity of anyone who passes by a CCTV camera. Depending on whom you ask, the increased prevalence and capabilities of CCTV surveillance could make society safer and more efficient, could trample on our rights to privacy and freedom of movement, or both. No matter which side you argue, the fact is that live video surveillance is ramping up worldwide.
