Candid camera, 2010 style: Caught you ogling that silk blouse
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I’ve gotta laugh at all the harrumphing the privacy mavens are doing, now that they realize that — wait for it, brace yourself — some stores actually have cameras recording your shopping behavior. Catching you on camera not just eying a blouse but yelling at your child. Ogling a mannequin (or, if you’re a pubescent boy, actually touching a sexy mannequin). Or maybe — oh, the horror — standing on tippy toe to reach a top shelf.
This from today’s New York Times:
Privacy advocates, though, are troubled by the array of video cameras, motion detectors and other sensors monitoring the nation’s shopping aisles.
Many stores and the consultants they hire are using the gear not to catch shoplifters but to analyze and to manipulate consumer behavior. And while taping shoppers is legal, critics say it is unethical to observe people as if they were lab rats. They are concerned that the practices will lead to an even greater invasion of privacy, particularly facial recognition technology, which is already in the early stages of deployment.
And I should care…why?
Folks, when it comes to privacy, that horse left the barn long ago. Watched any good cop shows lately? Half the time they catch the perp because of a surveillance camera at the ATM, or at the street intersection, or at the deli across the street. Thanx to EZPass, everyone knows exactly when my car crosses a bridge or enters a tunnel — and for all I know, my picture gets snapped when it does, too. My cell phone can be tracked by GPS. And I assume, truthfully, that some camera is monitoring me in the store. I truly don’t care whether the store is using the tapes to monitor shoplifters, or to see whether shelves are at the right height for most customers. They have me on tape, face and all.
BTW, I don’t buy an oft-heard argument, that when you see what people willingly reveal on Facebook or YouTube, you recognize that privacy no longer matters. It is one thing for me to expose myself; it is quite another for someone else to expose me.
But store cameras don’t “expose” us. They record us, yes — but it is quite unlikely that any of those tapes will end up on the Internet. Few of us are that interesting.
So the truth is, I think that by now I take the scrutiny for granted.I may wince a bit when I think about it, but the truth is, I rarely DO think about it. I/WE have lived without privacy for a long, long time. Big Brother is watching — does it really matter if he’s a marketing guru or a security cop? It’s time to wink at the camera, and get on with our lives.
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I write software that analyzes videos for faces, etc. We aren’t in wide use yet, but either we or our competitors will be soon. At that point, you and everyone else will need legislation with teeth to protect your privacy. I don’t think there is very much time to wait.
Today, the sheer volume of video protects you. If they catch you doing something embarrassing, it’s really just chance because they can only watch a small fraction of what they record. But that randomness is doomed. And I for one trust neither governments nor corporations without strict guidelines (and probably not even then)
Your closing parenthetical clause says it all — and probably not even then. That’s my point — the boat has sailed, the horse has left the barn, we’ve fought the battle and lost. I’ve learned not to adjust my slip in any elevator, even though I’m alone. I’ve gotten used to my doorman buzzing me in the back door, well before I’ve rung. We are all being watched and/or recorded, all the time, and this new spate of software isn’t going to make any fundamental difference.
In response to another comment. See in context »I just interviewed Paco, the guy in the Times piece, for my book about retail. The videos he uses are only one piece of the story — he also tracks 900 metrics of what happens between the shopper and the store.
Doesn’t surprise me — but doesn’t bother me. I still feel we stopped expecting privacy outside our own homes a long time ago. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, I’m just saying it is what it is.
In response to another comment. See in context »