Big Brother is already watching you in one Seattle park, and Mayor Greg Nickels wants to install surveillance cameras in three others to curb graffiti, drug dealing and other crimes.

Without public notice, Nickels had three surveillance cameras installed and turned on in Capitol Hill's Cal Anderson Park on Feb. 20.

City Council members and the American Civil Liberties Union aren't happy about that. Council members wanted to know who could watch the video, how long it would be kept, and what safeguards would protect the privacy of innocent citizens.

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The council's Parks and Seattle Center Committee is scheduled to discuss those safeguards at a meeting today.

The council had put a budget restriction last year on park surveillance cameras until it learned more about the mayor's plan, but Nickels found a different pot of money for the Cal Anderson cameras.

The ACLU opposes the mayor's initiative, saying people have the right to be in public places without fear of the government peering over their shoulder.

Full article here.