A spy in the sky that tracks what you do – and goes back in time to see what you did

Ross McNutt has a superpower — he can zoom in on everyday life, then rewind and fast-forward to solve crimes in a shutter-flash. But should he?

The tensions between arguments for privacy and for security often keep campaigners for civil liberties busy. The latest edition of the Radiolab podcast from the US has a great piece of coverage of what may well be the next flashpoint in such debates: permanent aerial surveillance of cities.

The technology in question is both scary and impressive, even involving a little bit of ‘time travel’. By taking and keeping large volumes of photos, not only can events be spotted but they can then be traced back or forward in time, such as to see where a suspicious van came from and where it then went to.

Well worth a listen – and note the reference near the end to a proposal to use this technology in London.