November 5, 2012 at 15:07"Dumb operator" - a bad joke or an alarm?
Recently, a series of provocative videos shot by an anonymous author, nicknamed the Creepy Cameraman, appeared on the Internet. The video captured the reaction of people whom he shot without their permission, brazenly violating the boundaries of private space. Naturally, the majority reacted negatively and even aggressively.
But the goal of the “dumb operator” is not just to tease people. With this series of videos, he raises a much deeper question - why do people quite calmly relate to the fact that they are constantly filmed by surveillance cameras? In cafes and restaurants, in shops and banks, and just on the streets, there are exactly the same cameras as the one in his hands, and people don’t know who will use this video and how.
Why do people unconditionally trust the government, the police and the administration of shops and other public places, but do not tolerate the cameras in the hands of a random passerby? This issue is particularly acute with the advent of devices such as Google Glass. Today the “dumb operator” is an anomaly, but what if every second one becomes the same “dumb operator” tomorrow, wearing glasses with a camera that can automatically upload everything that we see on the servers of Google or another corporation?
Could we repeat the fate of the notorious frog in boiling water ? The network of surveillance cameras increasingly entangles modern cities - will we wake up one morning in the Orwellian future, will we no longer take the phrase “video surveillance in the toilet is for your safety” as a joke?
Whether these fears are justified or not, we have yet to figure out. Perhaps in the near future, instead of stickers on the cafe’s doors warning that video surveillance is being conducted there will be stickers indicating that surveillance is NOT being conducted, unlike any other place. Will we feel more comfortable in such a cafe, or vice versa, be afraid that here we are much more likely to be cheated or robbed?
But the goal of the “dumb operator” is not just to tease people. With this series of videos, he raises a much deeper question - why do people quite calmly relate to the fact that they are constantly filmed by surveillance cameras? In cafes and restaurants, in shops and banks, and just on the streets, there are exactly the same cameras as the one in his hands, and people don’t know who will use this video and how.
Why do people unconditionally trust the government, the police and the administration of shops and other public places, but do not tolerate the cameras in the hands of a random passerby? This issue is particularly acute with the advent of devices such as Google Glass. Today the “dumb operator” is an anomaly, but what if every second one becomes the same “dumb operator” tomorrow, wearing glasses with a camera that can automatically upload everything that we see on the servers of Google or another corporation?
Could we repeat the fate of the notorious frog in boiling water ? The network of surveillance cameras increasingly entangles modern cities - will we wake up one morning in the Orwellian future, will we no longer take the phrase “video surveillance in the toilet is for your safety” as a joke?
Whether these fears are justified or not, we have yet to figure out. Perhaps in the near future, instead of stickers on the cafe’s doors warning that video surveillance is being conducted there will be stickers indicating that surveillance is NOT being conducted, unlike any other place. Will we feel more comfortable in such a cafe, or vice versa, be afraid that here we are much more likely to be cheated or robbed?