The Olympic Eyes

The Beijing Olympics were the most watched Games in Olympic history. Not only did they have the largest audience ever, all activities during the games were watched -- monitored and controlled -- by an unprecedented security and surveillance network.

For the Olympics, Beijing has installed some 300,000 closed circuit cameras and spent $12-billion on related security. There were reportedly 100,000 policemen on Olympics duty, excluding volunteers and civilian recruits. The watch was...
more »

The Beijing Olympics were the most watched Games in Olympic history. Not only did they have the largest audience ever, all activities during the games were watched -- monitored and controlled -- by an unprecedented security and surveillance network.

For the Olympics, Beijing has installed some 300,000 closed circuit cameras and spent $12-billion on related security. There were reportedly 100,000 policemen on Olympics duty, excluding volunteers and civilian recruits. The watch was a spectacle in itself.

All the security and surveillance upgrades have stayed after the Olympics, and the homeland security boom is spreading to other 660 designated "safe cities" across China. Many human rights groups have pointed out that the technology will be -- and has been -- directed at protests and dissenters.

This is not one country's issue, but a much larger concern: The world's security-industrial complex in the shadow of terrorism.
« less