The Surveillance State isn't just the NSA... My stance is that even privately-owned surveillance cameras that monitor public areas should be discouraged as a threat to privacy and civil liberties, because authorities can keep track of where these cameras are (see comment from the police sergeant below), and easily go to the owners and demand footage be turned over -- how many people are going to refuse, even when there's no warrant or subpoena offered?
Videotaping from cameras and phones, on the other hand, is much less accessible to a centralized authority, and these individual surveillance devices can be seen to some extent as the public's means of evening the tables a bit. Although smartphones and other GPS devices have the downside of being able to be used to locate you and potentially track your movements.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))