Of course it's creepy, but it's not new, either. The UK went Big Brother long before even 9/11, their CCTV obsession has been making international news since the 90s.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24992147@N03/2644171457/
Now available in mug and t-shirt form.
http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/search.html?SearchTerm=watchfu...
It creeps me out.
England prevails!
The liberal agenda prevalent on Reddit etc simply refuses to believe that there isn't a huge conspiracy theory, where all those private CCTV systems installed in corner shops, all those local council run CCTV schemes, are all linked together and tunneled into the government so they can spy on people.
But just for the hell of it:
Most CCTV in the UK was installed in the 70s and 80s, when the hardware became cheap. Independent Shop owners installed it so they could catch and prosecute shop lifters. It typically goes straight to a VHS tape which is cycled through and taped over after a few days.
Also for example, you have CCTV in petrol stations to catch people not paying. For some reason this type of thing doesn't seem to exist in the US...
The only difference is the wide swath of area between CCTV installs. They don't tend to watch the roads.
But this article (I cannot comment on the claims therein) states that people sitting in the "London Traffic Control Center" "followed them using London's infamous CCTV".
So.. If(!) that's true or close enough, then outsider seem to have the right impression?
On major roadside and traffic hotspots we also have cameras to help with accidents & traffic management. I have no idea if these are blinked with london congestion charging cameras.