Video cameras and you. Where do you draw the line?

[Strazdas]

it is much mure effective than 911 calls.

Any evidence of that, or just specious reasoning?

The number of cities who have cameras seem to indicate otherwise.

911 calls cna be called, can be not called, can be faked. You cannot take 911 call as a proof in court, a caller may be palying a prank for all we know. there is also high crime rate that does not get reported via 911s because people are lazy to pick up the phone.
Cameras on the other hand sees all and provides obective proof of somones guilt (or innocence) Cameras will not lie, it does not pick sides and it gives you a permanent record of a crime. when it happened. with all the details. no more "i wear glasses so he could have wore a hat or not, i wouldnt know".

 

[Loonyyy]

The guy running the project could use some critical thinking skills and answer his own question.

1.) Do people like being randomly recorded: No.

2.) Do people notice security cameras everywhere: Mostly no. Paranoid types like me might notice them more, and I'm sure we've got some of my fellow paranoid peeps around here, but most people just don't notice security cameras, and if they did, they couldn't do anything about it.

Thing is, security cameras in stores are for a purpose, and if I don't like that, I can leave.

CCTV in public is more annoying, but as someone who lives near rough neighbourhoods, and whose busmall is a cross between a white trash wedding and a brawl waiting to happen most times, I understand why they're needed. It means the police can effectively deal with problems. If I was really paranoid, I could worry about Future Totalitarian Dictatorships using Surveillance to control the populace, to spy on the people *GASP*, but I'm not crazy. Being worried about the security cameras is kinda ancilliary to the point there.

The footage isn't being archived forever, presumably, and the people watching it are skimming it looking for deliberate things.

So most people aren't so concerned about surveillance most likely because 1) They're not aware of it. 2) They understand there is a justification for using them, which actually helps them, and that the use of the footage is not illicit, or untowards. 3) They can't do that much about it.

This guy on the other hand, hanging around with a camera filming people, giving them both the person to talk to about it and no reason to justify their being there, and has given no indication to them of what he's doing it for. He's 3/3 for violating the reasons people are accepting of surveillance.

The proliferation of security cameras makes me uneasy, but they don't cause any nuisance, and I can get over them, so long as there are adequate rules about their usage. They're stupid, and kind of useless for the most part, but they're not really a threat.

Some wanker recording me (With Audio) in public does not have that benefit.

 

[Something Amyss]

911 calls cna be called, can be not called, can be faked. You cannot take 911 call as a proof in court, a caller may be palying a prank for all we know. there is also high crime rate that does not get reported via 911s because people are lazy to pick up the phone.
Cameras on the other hand sees all and provides obective proof of somones guilt (or innocence) Cameras will not lie, it does not pick sides and it gives you a permanent record of a crime. when it happened. with all the details. no more "i wear glasses so he could have wore a hat or not, i wouldnt know".

So specious reasoning. Gotcha.

For the record, cameras are often not referred to in this sort of case. Someone jacked my car sitting in front of a camera and the cops didn't even bother with it. This doesn't even seem to be that uncommon. Cameras are expensive to maintain, if you are to provide the level of accuracy and fidelity you wish, and still rely on proper facing/distance. There's no evidence they are a preventative measure, and arrests don't go up as a result.

So in theory, that's awesome. In reality? Not so much.

 

[Dags90]

Cameras on a street. Alright. If I get murdered, maybe it'll bring my family justice.

But probably not. The UK is the place most saturated with CCTV cameras, and as I've posted before, studies have shown them to be ineffective in solving crime.

Mostly it's just free money for security companies.

That's one of the reasons why I don't care about being recorded on security cameras very much right now as far as privacy goes. The poor quality and lack of automation in scanning the footage that makes them terrible at solving crime also makes them terrible at infringing my privacy.

From what I've heard of people who work retail, they usually catch shoplifters the old fashioned way: Noticing that when certain people come in to shop, things turn up missing later. This is one of the reasons they prefer to just ban people from stores rather than get the police involved, because they usually don't have sufficient evidence to get any sort of criminal conviction, even with their 40 security cameras.

If facial recognition and high quality cameras start becoming less costly to operate, then I'd actually worry about my privacy.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

If you replaced every security camera in private stores and public places with a person wearing an appropriate uniform, most people people would be decidedly more uncomfortable with that.

Imagine. You walk into Walmart and you're greeted, not by an elderly/handicapped person, but a pimply faced teenager with two hours of training in a blue vest following your movements with a camera. It's creepy, and it's exactly what happens every time you walk into a big retailer. You just don't see the person behind the camera.

That's more or less exactly how it is at Best Buy, though. The two I worked at, anyway. I never once heard a complaint about it in three years with the company.

The employees right in front of the entrance wearing yellow shirts who welcome people as they enter the store, the ones that most people seem to assume are greeters, are actually Loss Prevention. The little terminal at their desk is connected to the store's security cameras. Since the desk is typically faced inward toward the store, the screen is pretty clearly visible to customers as they enter the store.

Whenever we heard over our headsets that there was a suspicious looking person to keep an eye on, it was almost always a yellow shirt calling it out. I doubt they'd ever admit it, certainly not while still employed by the company, but they almost certainly did profile people based on race and attire. I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every minority individual or every teenager wearing a hoodie and camo pants that I had LP suggest needed to be monitored.

 

[Strazdas]

911 calls cna be called, can be not called, can be faked. You cannot take 911 call as a proof in court, a caller may be palying a prank for all we know. there is also high crime rate that does not get reported via 911s because people are lazy to pick up the phone.
Cameras on the other hand sees all and provides obective proof of somones guilt (or innocence) Cameras will not lie, it does not pick sides and it gives you a permanent record of a crime. when it happened. with all the details. no more "i wear glasses so he could have wore a hat or not, i wouldnt know".

So specious reasoning. Gotcha.

For the record, cameras are often not referred to in this sort of case. Someone jacked my car sitting in front of a camera and the cops didn't even bother with it. This doesn't even seem to be that uncommon. Cameras are expensive to maintain, if you are to provide the level of accuracy and fidelity you wish, and still rely on proper facing/distance. There's no evidence they are a preventative measure, and arrests don't go up as a result.

So in theory, that's awesome. In reality? Not so much.

a police officer that did not consider camera recording to be evidence should be fired for he cannot do a police job very clearly. just because we have idiots using the system does not mean system doesnt work. high quality cameras get cheaper every year. there is a problem of face recognition, but the problem does not dissapear when someone is calling 911 looking though his window. excelt that cameras dont forget what they saw and dont add any imaginations unlike people.

 

[DarthSka]

Honestly, if someone was recording me, I really wouldn't care. They apparently found me interesting enough to capture on film, so I'll probably be a bit flattered.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

It's like everyone is just some tinfoil nutcase that doesn't realize security cameras are in place for a reason and having a random stranger record you without your permission (I realize you don't need it) is just plain rude and annoying.

This isn't surveillance its a guy with a camera so (in the states) you need their permission or at the very least have a very clear sign letting them know you are being recorded. This guy could get sued.

 

[Zantos]

Ha. No. My old boss could still find out, you know, and there goes a solid reference.

Plus there's, you know, STILL the fact that it's a dickish thing to do without at least warning the idiots first.

Once you start a professional career, you generally don't give unrelated references. Just like you stop putting your high school GPA on your resume after you start college. When you're looking for your second job as an accountant (as an example), you don't put "loss prevention" on your resume and you don't give those people out as references.

There's no such thing as a bad reference though. And although sitting at a camera desk might not seem like a great way into a career, that would be a solid gold reference for any job where they'd need to handle any sort of personal information discreetly. There's no point in burning that bridge just for a few youtube hits.

OT: Yeah I see the whole point in the experiment, especially with being a Brit. But there is a very fundamental difference between a professional company with a responsibility to protect the information, and some guy who can do absolutely anything with no repercussions.

This is more like the neighbour that wants to install a security camera on his house for his own security, but has it pointed so it can also film through your windows.