Earlier this year, this magazine wrote on the increasing pervasiveness of cameras, particularly via drone technology, in our civilian ethos. As drones become increasingly more prominent, debate has swelled on the moral and ethical implications of what many describe as a “surveillance state”.

Bill Gates, billionaire philanthropist who needs no introduction, was recently pressed on the topic during a long interview with Rolling Stone magazine. The interview covered a lot of topics, ranging from his thoughts on Mark Zuckerberg, to condoms and everywhere in between. When asked on his thoughts on privacy concerns, Gates offered the following:

“Should there be cameras everywhere in outdoor streets? My personal view is having cameras in inner cities is a very good thing. In the case of London, petty crime has gone down. They catch terrorists because of it. And if something really bad happens, most of the time you can figure out who did it. There’s a general view there that it’s not used to invade privacy in some way. Yet in an American city, in order to take advantage of that in the same way, you have to trust what this information is going to be used for.”

via Rolling Stone