Is Big Brother watching us a bit too closely?

In his epic book '1984', distinguished author George Orwell wrote of his fears of a future society in which all of humanity would be monitored 24/7, and all aspects of their lives - including their thoughts would be controlled.

The State banned language and invented 'newspeak' - a way of talking which limited expression, and made critical communication impossible.Back in 1949 when Orwell wrote his book, he expresses fears that society will be increasingly controlled envisaging cameras everywhere and spies listening to and reporting every utterance.

He wrote about the dreaded 'thought police' who rounded up those with 'dangerous' thoughts - and sent them to concentration camp-like places, where they were tortured and brainwashed until every ounce of individuality was extruded from them.

Orwell also spoke of an intrusive government which addressed citizens thru huge, always-on monitors in their homes, and which had criminalized virtually everything in the interest of absolute control.Well, Orwell got the year wrong, that's a fact. But in 2009, our freedom and privacy has been eroded to such an extent that we may as well be living in his vision of 1984.

In his epic book '1984', distinguished author George Orwell wrote of his fears of a future society in which all of humanity would be monitored 24/7, and all aspects of their lives - including their thoughts would be controlled. The State banned language and invented 'newspeak' - a way of talking which limited expression, and made critical communication impossible.

Back in 1949 when Orwell wrote his book, he expresses fears that society will be increasingly controlled envisaging cameras everywhere and spies listening to and reporting every utterance. He wrote about the dreaded 'thought police' who rounded up those with 'dangerous' thoughts - and sent them to concentration camp-like places, where they were tortured and brainwashed until every ounce of individuality was extruded from them.

Orwell also spoke of an intrusive government which addressed citizens thru huge, always-on monitors in their homes, and which had criminalized virtually everything in the interest of absolute control.

Well, Orwell got the year wrong, that's a fact. But in 2009, our freedom and privacy has been eroded to such an extent that we may as well be living in his vision of 1984.Today, for example, the UK government announced a draconian expansion of its well-established snooping policyh - and that it was to seek to compel all social networking sites, including Bebo, Facebook and MSN to make detailed records of all conversations, chats, notes AND blogs - and to make them available, on-line for government monitoring & inspection.

The reason they've given? To prevent crime.. and terrorism. Indeed. he real reason - to exert further control on our lives, and to enable the authorities to snoop and spy even more closely on our private lives, and to enable even more aspects of our lives to be profiled, tracked, followed, recorded - and ultimately, to be used against us.

So, in conclusion, how close are we in the UK to Orwell's terrifying vision of 1984? Here are some pointers... make your own mind up!

* We have far, far more CCTV in more places than in any other country. More of the UK is able to be monitored than anywhere else.

* We are the only country to routinely use facial recognition cameras to automatically track individuals as they move from place to place.

* All state freeways, highways & city thru-routes have number plate recognition cameras which track & record cars centrally, passing on tax, insurance, MOT & journey details to the authorities.

* ALL emails, phone calls, internet sessions, texts are now monitored, with details & data kept on record for a minimum of 7 years. This is soon to be extended to Social Network activity.

* Proposed ID cards will carry proximity chips, so the carrier can be tracked as she / he walks past sensors, to be built in 'key' locations.

* Records of ALL plane journeys are held on record, as is information on entry & exit to and from the UK. Travelllers are now asked in detail to explain trhe purpose of their journeys, and this is recorded and filed.

* Newspeak is sort of here > we can get intro BIG trouble if we are heard to use non-PC language in the wrong places, indeed - people have been sacked fromn work & jailed for it.

*We have the biggest DNA database in the world, with data illegally taken from every person who has ever been arrested or cautioned, whether they are charged, or not.

* The Thought Police? Not here yet, but voters of some far right parties have been sacked from jobs - for holding the wrong views. We're getting there!

* The law? There are 14,000 new offences created and legislated for by the UK's Labor government. Citizens can now be arrested for virtually anything, including chalking on the sidewalk, or insulting a police horse.

Welcome to 1984?

Watch out!