Nineteen Eighty-Four Is Coming True

Nineteen Eighty-Four is coming true. Peter Wilson discovers George Orwell's London flat is surrounded by cameras, and surveillance monitors are about to get ears. SIXTY-ONE years ago, writer George Orwell sat in a chilly apartment on the top floor of a brick terrace in London conjuring up a fictional world in which people were under constant surveillance by cameras and microphones. It was there, perched four storeys above the gardens of Canonbury Square in Islington, that Orwell began writing Nineteen Eighty-Four, setting out an oppressive future in which the all-seeing government of Big Brother watched over its frightened citizens, stamping out privacy and all free thought. Now the electronic scrutiny is about to take a remarkable step forward. The walls are about to gain ears to go with their eyes. Ultra-sensitive microphones capable of listening to and recording private conversations in public places from up to 100m away are being introduced to London's streets. Experts believe that within a few years voice recognition technology will allow a new database to be built that could eventually allow officials to put a name to any voice picked up on the streets. After a series of trials in The Netherlands, Westminster City Council has become the first municipality in London to try out microphones as a way of detecting "breaches of the peace".