An excellent article from Bruce Schneier at the Guardian online, exploding the myth that innocent photographers are probably wannabe terrorists just waiting to abduct your children and blow up your favourite city. Yeah, I didn’t know that was a threat either, but apparently some people think so.
Of course it’s crazy to presume that anyone walking around on their own taking photos of stuff is probably a threat to the nation, but the politics of fear often prevails in these cases. As Schneier’s article illustrates, we find it far more difficult to distinguish between real and imagined threats than we think.
Just the other week myself and another strange man were wandering around the Lake District taking photos. Perhaps we were lucky not to have been flown half way round the world and waterboarded. But we’ve not got into any trouble yet, so maybe the situation’s not all that….
Hang on — I hear someone outside.
Shit.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.