I came across this video (there’s also a part one and part two). A pretty courageous guy, Surveillance Camera Man, is “just taking a video” of random people in public. It seems creepy and harass-y, but it’s also somehow entertaining. Watching the array of reactions is just compelling.
It raises an interesting point, though. At any time of the day, we could have multiple cameras watching us, so why get so offended about one more? Well, maybe because it’s going to end up on YouTube, but they don’t know that. I usually shy away from video cameras and I definitely wouldn’t want a stranger filming me on the street. But still, I’m obviously filmed in public by CCTV cameras all the time, and I don’t give it a second (or first!) thought. Maybe we don’t mind being filmed in that way because we don’t expect anybody to be watching or paying attention to the footage. Or maybe we think it’s fine because it’s under the guise of “security”. I don’t know how much public security cameras actually enhance security, though. But that’s probably a different topic.
