Editing Closed-circuit television (section)

=== In Europe<!-- Severely lacking coverage of other European countries. --> ===

==== In the United Kingdom ====
In the United Kingdom, the vast majority of CCTV cameras are operated not by government bodies, but by private individuals or companies, especially to monitor the interiors of shops and businesses. According to the [[Freedom of Information Act 2000]] requests, the total number of local government-operated CCTV cameras was around 52,000 over the entirety of the UK.<ref name="refBBW1">{{cite web|title= The Price of Privacy: How local authorities spent £515m on CCTV in four years|url= http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/files/priceofprivacy/Price_of_privacy_2012.pdf|publisher= Big Brother Watch|date= February 2012|page= 30|access-date= 4 February 2015|archive-date= 23 September 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150923185058/http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/files/priceofprivacy/Price_of_privacy_2012.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref>

An article published in ''CCTV Image'' magazine estimated the number of private and local government-operated cameras in the United Kingdom was 1.85 million in 2011. The estimate was based on extrapolating from a comprehensive survey of public and private cameras within the [[Cheshire Constabulary]] jurisdiction. This works out as an average of one camera for every 32 people in the UK, although the density of cameras varies greatly from place to place. The Cheshire report also claims that the average person on a typical day would be seen by 70 CCTV cameras.<ref name="Guardian2011">{{cite news|title=You're being watched: there's one CCTV camera for every 32 people in UK - Research shows 1.85m machines across Britain, most of them indoors and privately operated|url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/02/cctv-cameras-watching-surveillance|access-date=7 January 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2 March 2011}}</ref>

The Cheshire figure is regarded as more dependable than a previous study by Michael McCahill and Clive Norris of ''UrbanEye'' published in 2002.<ref name="Guardian2011" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.urbaneye.net/results/ue_wp6.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.urbaneye.net/results/ue_wp6.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=CCTV in London|access-date=22 July 2009}}</ref> Based on a small sample in [[Putney]] High Street, McCahill and Norris extrapolated the number of surveillance cameras in [[London|Greater London]] to be around 500,000 and the total number of cameras in the UK to be around 4.2 million. According to their estimate, the UK has one camera for every 14 people. Although it has been acknowledged for several years that the methodology behind this figure is flawed,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/factcheck+how+many+cctv+cameras/2291167|title=FactCheck: how many CCTV cameras?|publisher=Channel 4 News|date=18 June 2008|access-date=8 May 2009|archive-date=11 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511054941/http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/factcheck+how+many+cctv+cameras/2291167|url-status=dead}}</ref> it has been widely quoted. Furthermore, the figure of 500,000 for Greater London is often confused with the figure for the police and local government-operated cameras in the [[City of London]], which was about 650 in 2011.<ref name="refBBW1" />

The ''CCTV User Group'' estimated that there were around 1.5 million private and local government CCTV cameras in city centres, stations, airports, and major retail areas in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cctvusergroup.com/art.php?art=94|title=How many cameras are there?|publisher=CCTV User Group|date=18 June 2008|access-date=8 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023191646/http://www.cctvusergroup.com/art.php?art=94|archive-date=23 October 2008}}</ref> Research conducted by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and based on a survey of all Scottish local authorities identified that there are over 2,200 public space CCTV cameras in Scotland.<ref>Bannister, J., Mackenzie, S. and Norris, P. [http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/pubs/Public-Space-CCTV-in-Scotland--Results-of-a-National-Survey-of-Scotlands-Local-Authorities/182 Public Space CCTV in Scotland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927060757/http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/pubs/Public-Space-CCTV-in-Scotland--Results-of-a-National-Survey-of-Scotlands-Local-Authorities/182 |date=27 September 2012 }}(2009), Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (Research Report)</ref> The UK has often been cited as a country that has one of the most CCTV cameras in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surveillance cameras in Germany and Europe: A statistical overview |url=https://weberprotect.com/en/blogs/news/uberwachungskameras-in-deutschland-und-europa-ein-statistischer-uberblick |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=Weber Protect |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 January 2021 |title=The story of CCTV in Europe, from resistance to adoption |url=https://www.calipsa.io/blog/the-story-of-cctv-in-europe-from-resistance-to-adoption |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=www.calipsa.io |language=en}}</ref>