Internet Eyes: Earn Money Spotting Crimes on CCTV [Cash Prizes for Remote CCTV Snoopers, Civil Rights Groups Unhappy (For A Change)]

Posted October 5th 2009 by Andrew under Computers | Internet Highlights

Internet Eyes Header Image CCTV with Eye

The internet is about to get a new reality game, known as Internet Eyes, that already has civil rights groups up in arms on account of the fact that you’ll be cast as a ‘remote snooper’ who’ll get paid cash for spotting real crimes via CCTV cameras installed in shops and shopping centres through out the UK.

The Internet Eyes internet ‘game’, which is the brainchild of David Steele, Tony Morgan and James Woodward, and which is set to be rolled out across Britain by December, with a worldwide rollout following in 2010, will pay out up to a purported £1,000 should users report crimes, via SMS, seen via live CCTV streams streamed directly via the Internet Eyes site to their computers at home with then ‘game’ awarding points for confirmed crimes and deducting points for mis-reports.

Civil rights groups, as you’d except, aren’t in the least bit happy and claim that Internet Eyes will ‘encourage people to spy and snitch on each other’ which, pinch me if I’m wrong, is the whole premise of the game, isn’t it? (10 points there for stating the bleeding obvious). On a more sober note they also claim that the ‘game’ will be open to abuse by fringe groups such as racist organisations who may ‘decide to send alerts every time a black person is seen on screen’.

Internet Eyes Website Image

‘This could turn out to be the best crime prevention weapon there’s ever been. I wanted to combine the serious business of stopping crime with the incentive of winning money. There are over four million CCTV cameras in the UK and only one in a thousand gets watched. Crimes are bound to get missed but this way people the cameras will be watched by lots of people 24-hours-a-day,’ said Tony Morgan, one of the people behind Internet Eyes, adding ‘It gives people something better to do than watching Big Brother when everyone is asleep.’

Internet Eyes is set to initially encompass CCTV cameras in shops and businesses across Stratford-upon-Avon prior to drawing CCTV streams from across Britain and, eventually, it would seem, across the globe.

From our perspective we already know we’re watched and to what extent we are watched and this ‘game’ is hardly going to see CCTV cameras felled so why not put the power of Big Brother into the hands of the people?

We welcome your thoughts? Are you a potential Internet Eyes remote snooper in the making? Let us know.

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12 Comments for “Internet Eyes: Earn Money Spotting Crimes on CCTV [Cash Prizes for Remote CCTV Snoopers, Civil Rights Groups Unhappy (For A Change)]”

jan burchell | October 6th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

I think what you are doing is appalling and I can see no way this application can cut crime and is a cynical attempt to make money from the public you should be closed down!
Andrew Tingle | October 6th, 2009 at 1:44 pm

Thanks for your feedback – are we to take it that you won’t be signing up? Incidentally, the software is not ours so, if its okay with you, we’ll not close down just yet. Perhaps the founder members need to hear your perspective (you’ll find the official page linked in the post).
Interestingly, should one of these remote snoopers spot a crime where, say, and for argument’s sake, you were the victim, and that brought the perpetrator to justice, would you still be opposed?
Seamus McHugh | October 6th, 2009 at 1:47 pm

think it’s a great idea keeping cities in the UK safer…i would consider myself very observant and would be interested in the scheme
Mick McNeill | October 6th, 2009 at 5:50 pm

You cheeky rascals. An absolute GEM of a commercial idea and I hope that you fill your pockets. Hey, it just takes an original idea and winners take all! People love “BigBrother” and all that intrusive tele now they can voyeur and be paid for acting for the common good! Mind you take my advice and link up with online game providers so that people stay on your site long enough to be vigilant and win the prizes. A better (though more expensive option) would be to create an independent music community webcam exposure system and merge it all into the “viewer/monitoring” experience. People would get entertained, up and coming artists would get paid and criminals get discovered. Magic! If you then extended the whole concept onto a dedicated digital TV channel with a central phone number you would rake in the cash. Shake your money maker and the best of luck to your team.
Best regards, Mick McNeill – Crikey Coop, Vienna
BenS | October 6th, 2009 at 6:13 pm

Have you read Nineteen Eighty-Four, by any chance?
simon tutte | October 6th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

more eyes the better,more eyes the safer the streets will be for everyone.
Andrew Tingle | October 6th, 2009 at 8:16 pm

Glad you picked up on our sarcasm there Mick.
Mick McNeill | October 6th, 2009 at 9:57 pm

Oh yeah, it’s a wicked idea and I’m all signed up. Cheers! Mick
Steve Walker | October 7th, 2009 at 7:24 am

Andrew, an even better idea. Why dont we all just stop having children, then nothing can happen to them. Or, how about not letting people out after 9pm, that would also stop a lot of people being a victim of a crime. How about if everyone was made to wear a sort of tracking device with built in microphone, as soon as anyone is attacked some guy somewhere who has been listening to what they are doing and tracking them all day can then quickly alert the police, that would also prevent a lot of serious injuries.
Not against all that are you? I should hope not, how could you be, they would all maybe save you or your children from injury one day and therefore are surely all good ideas and should be implemented immediately.
If you are however against one of these ideas then enjoy seeing yourself as one of the civil rights activist you seem to despise.
Andy | October 7th, 2009 at 9:36 am

Having been involved in the design of CCTV systems since 1980, could I point out just one very pertinent point with regard to this PR Stunt. Of the four million cameras currently reported active in the UK, less than one percent can ‘legally’ be viewed by non-authorised monitors. Sort of cuts down the odds of making any commercial benefit from this idea; an idea which has been discussed and discarded by many since the advent of IP Digital cameras. Additionally, less than five percent of all CCTV cameras in the UK can actually be viewed on line; the majority are analogue and the signal comes back on a fibre connection to a monitored control room.
Something for the Weekend » Blog Archive » Crime That Pays | October 9th, 2009 at 5:37 pm

[...] TFTS, PSFK, and Daily [...]
Can crime watching earn you money? | INVENT | October 16th, 2009 at 8:53 am

[...] The answer is yes, if you are residing in the EU. The Internet Eyes, based in the UK, offers a cash amount of £1000 to viewers who spot a crime happening while watching commercial CCTV cameras. Based on a point accumulation system, the CCTV videos are streamed to computers of viewers who subscribed to the live feed. They then send a SMS to the owner of the CCTV when a crime is spotted, and obtain points that allow them the opportunity to get rewarded with up to £1000. Read more here. [...]