Very little is known about Saturday's foiled car-bombing attempt in Times Square. Who drove the van, who planned the attack, what was the motive—are all, for now, mysteries…In 2008, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, demanding more information about these cameras—how much the system costs, who can examine the footage, how long it's kept, whether it's destroyed. It's worth noting that the suit, which is still pending, calls only for information, not for imposing restrictions on the system or shutting it down. This morning, when I asked about the NYCLU's viewpoint on public surveillance cameras generally, a spokeswoman told me, "It's a complicated issue." These cameras are probably permanent fixtures in American cities. And city dwellers (as well as tourists) may have come to accept that privacy cannot be presumed when they're out on public streets.