This week marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's 1984. The novel, about a surveillance society where all citizens live under the watchful eye of Big Brother, has become an integral part of popular culture. However, many fear that in contemporary Britain, Orwellian society has become a reality.

There are millions of CCTV cameras operating throughout the country, the Government plans to make identity cards compulsory by 2012, and there is a growing network of databases (such as the National Child Database, the Office for National Statistics' Citizen Information Project, and the NHS National Programme for IT), containing personal information. Yet the ways in which the Government obtains and handles personal information remain vague and controversial.

Our campaign aims to explore the various forms of public surveillance and investigate issues relating to ways in which the Government monitors the private lives of ordinary citizens.