The Screening of America

Crime, cops, and cameras

Brian J. Taylor from the May 1997 issue

(Page 3 of 3)

The New York City Department of Transportation operates an unspecified number of cameras at selected intersections around the city to capture license plates of drivers who run red lights (the registered owner of the car receives a ticket in the mail, and, to rub it in, a snapshot of the car). While a spokesman wouldn't disclose the number or location of cameras, he says they are expanding the program and that people from all over the world are calling, asking how to start their own systems.

Legal experts say surveillance technology is ahead of the law, and they expect privacy issues to be fought, if not resolved, in the courts. But if cameras are coming, Privacy Journal editor Robert Ellis Smith offers a few guidelines to limit the invasiveness of both private and public surveillance: Publicly announce that surveillance is taking place; articulate the reason for such surveillance (if the reason disappears, so, presumably, should the surveillance); view cameras as a temporary measure; if recording surveillance tapes, erase them if they don't contain evidence of criminal activity; and monitor those private security guards charged with watching dressing rooms and bathrooms to protect privacy.

In the meantime, smile. The chances are increasingly high that someone is watching.