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December 07, 2008
Privatizing Big Brother?
Here's something for libertarians and privacy lovers to chew on. A guy living in San Francisco's sleazy Tenderloin District got so fed up with the crime outside his apartment window that he installed a live webcam with a dedicated web site. Now that the entire world can witness crimes in his 'hood, they're calling the SFPD: And some of the vistors are calling 911 to report crimes: ...With people watching at all hours of the day and night, some of them have watched crimes taking place. Viewers picked up the phone and called 911, and the police arrived in no time flat.Criminals have been fleeing to other neighborhoods to avoid the private camera, and a police spokesman notes that they are more effective than the government cameras. So the idea is spreading: Jackson knows how effective the private cameras can be. Late one night when three characters stood on his sidewalk yelling, "We're going to shoot you," Jackson knew he was on to something.As someone who fears big government, I like the idea of privatizing privacy concerns. Not only can you sue a private camera operator for genuine invasions of privacy, but they're not cops, so they can't make misdemeanor arrests or issue tickets for things like speeding, littering, or other infractions. However, big shot celebrity types who think they can go slumming around doing whatever they want might need to think again. These private operators can sell pictures to tabloids. The downside is that technology leads inexorably to a loss of privacy everywhere, and basically universal surveillance. (As Arianna Huffington and Don Fowler learned, someone is always watching.) Whether that's a downside would depend on who's doing what while who's watching. And whether more people care about the watchers, or about the watched. posted by Eric on 12.07.08 at 01:43 PM
Comments
Mrs. Kravitz comes to the web. ;-) Darleen · December 7, 2008 06:42 PM I couldn't get away with anything in the small town I grew up in because somebody would see me and tell my mom. Or complement my dad on what a good driver I was when not only was I not supposed to have taken the car, I didn't even have a driver's license. With only six degrees of separation, somebody's going to see that youtube video of you acting up and tell your mom and dad.
Donna B. · December 7, 2008 06:42 PM I lived on an army post until I was thirteen, and people were always reporting my misbehavior to my parents. So lack of privacy is bad - my brothers and I are raging paranoids who think everyone is out to get us - but it's good, because it seems to lead to better behavior - we're very well-spoken and well-behaved paranoids, mostly because everyone actually is out to get us. Is this a good trade-off? Or is it different if private citizens are doing it instead of the government? Elena · December 7, 2008 11:26 PM It is different if private citizens are doing it. Government control is too arbitrary, where citizens may forgive you. Donna B. · December 8, 2008 01:12 AM I'm not sure how you can cite "invasion of privacy" when someone watches you carrying on in a public street. Heather · December 8, 2008 02:07 PM Elena, my step-daughter also grew up in the military and had the exact same complaint. It sounds like it functions very much like a small town. Donna B. · December 9, 2008 04:58 AM Post a comment
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Ubiquitous cameras connected to YouTube will force us to act responsibly, or face the harsh condemnation of our peers. It is as if the all-seeing eye of God were watching. It is the Second Coming.