Video Surveillence

I have a few specific questions that I'm debating to use for a thesis statement. Why are governments not held accountable for the amount of surveillence they use and why is the public so indifferent (for the most part) of the use of video surveillence are a few major questions I have. I can't honestly say that I know the answer to those questions but I have a few ideas. For one, governments generally use less video surveillence than what the public perceives. And since 9-11, the public (not just in the U.S) feels a certain need for more stringent security measures. I feel that governments should be able to use more surveillence and more advanced measures of surveillence for the welfare of their citizens. However, there must be boundaries or measures of accountability in place so that people don't feel as though their privacy is being violated. I think some are opposed to video surveillence or feel that the government knows what it is doing and the public should not be privy to the sensitive data that is collected. I think corruption is easily overstated but should never be ruled out and it is the government's job to protect its citizens. If video surveillence is effective, then a government should use it. I did, however, find a promising news article from 2009 that added accountability to the implementation of video surveillence. The article discussed changes in the Department of Homeland Security's grant application. In the new application, privacy assessments are required and must be approved if an applicant wishes to install video surveillence cameras. I have a study of public perceptions of video surveillence in a city in Canada and another post 9-11 study in which I found both to be particularly helpful and interesting. The studies raised similar questions to which I may propose and found many misconceptions about the topic. I have a range of other sources that offer background information to the topic, from the purpose of using surveillence and how to effectively implement surveillence to some of the latest technological surveillence capabilities available. Yet another study I found tracks a particular system's effectiveness in Venice and explains the drawbacks of such systems. I would still like to conduct my own survey in order to get opinions of my peers on campus here and see what the college-age demographic thinks about the subject. I also need more information about the use of video surveillence in private industries and regulations involved therein.