IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 56
■
■
■
■
■
■
Why do you think this organization
conducts
video
surveillance?
Did you notice any signs or
announcements that video surveillance is taking place?
What do you think the organization does with the visual
images of you and others that
it collects? What should they
do with them?
Does it concern you that you
are being recorded? If yes,
what are those concerns? If no,
why do you feel comfortable
with it?
Would you ever want to access
video information about yourself? How might you try to do
that?
Do you think video surveillance benefits you as a [shopper/citizen/member of the
public]?
Findings
Our interview participants are
Canadian citizens who range in age
from 19 to 65, with education levels
from high school to post-graduate
degrees. They are engaged in a
variety of occupations including
law enforcement, education, childcare, engineering, construction,
and sales. While our participants
represent a broad range of socioeconomic and demographic categories,
our sample was not representative
of all Canadians, nor does our data
allow for a subtle examination of
the effects that personal life histories, such as differing home countries or length of time as Canadian
citizens, might have on individual
perspectives about surveillance.
rather, it is a snapshot of the opinions of those individuals willing to
speak briefly with our interviewers
in a particular Canadian city. Further research of greater breadth and
depth, reflecting other geographic
areas in both urban and rural settings, would be required to truly
represent a Canadian perspective.
Our findings fall broadly into
three categories: general awareness
56
|
and perceptions of video surveillance, knowledge and opinion of
privacy regulation relating to video
surveillance, and information needs
regarding video surveillance.
General Awareness and
Perceptions of Surveillance
When asked, the majority of our participants told us that they are aware
that they are often under camera
surveillance when going about their
daily lives in public spaces. They
are aware that their actions might
be caught on a camera when walking through a mall or even down a
street. When asked why they think
organizations are using video surveillance, most state that they don't
know the specific purpose beyond
a general perception of its use "for
safety" or "for security and stuff."
When we query what participants
watching at any given moment,
and other locations have no live
monitoring at all. Sometimes participants coupled their belief that
someone was watching live with
the erroneous expectation that if
trouble occurs, help will be dispatched. "If something happens to
me, I assume there is someone at
the other end of the camera looking
at things and is willing to send help
if needed." When asked whether
cameras in the area make them feel
safer, participants had varying opinions ranging from "What is a camera going to do if I get mugged?" to
"I feel indifferent" to "if something
is being recorded I feel safe knowing someone will or is able to see
what will occur." More than half of
the people asked these questions
yet stated they felt safer in the presence of video surveillance.
People are generally aware that
they are often under surveillance
in public spaces.
mean by the concept of safety in
relation to video surveillance, it usually related to their perception that
having cameras equates to someone watching, and this leads to an
assumption that in the surveilled
areas, crimes are less likely to occur.
As one participant stated, "I think it
stops people from doing bad things,
I mean someone is watching you
and you can tell there's going to be
consequences." Although relevant,
this assumption is potentially problematic for citizens. We know from
other's research that cameras have
not proven particularly effective at
deterring crime, so it is not necessarily a valid assumption that it will,
in fact, "stop people from doing bad
things" (see for example, [8], [10]).
Comments such as this also
indicate that it is generally unclear
to citizens whether cameras are
monitored live. In fact, in many
locations, no one may actually be
Participants also talked about
the use of cameras for security. By
raising this question, it seems they
were referring to the use of surveillance footage in order to investigate crime, identify, and then
prosecute criminals. Most thought
that cameras were useful for this
purpose and were also generally
supportive of privately-collected
information being given to police.
However, they were more divided
when asked whether a warrant
should be required to obtain this
information. Participants were
similarly divided in their perceptions about the personal benefit
they might receive from video surveillance, but were somewhat unified in the opinion that there was
some public benefit. As one person
stated, "if that video surveillance
helps the police or companies to
apprehend criminals then I think
that benefits me."
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE
|
SuMMEr 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - Cover1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - Cover2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 4
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 5
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 6
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 7
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 8
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 9
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 10
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 11
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 12
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 13
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 14
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 15
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 16
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 17
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 18
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 19
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 20
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 21
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 22
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 23
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 24
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 25
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 26
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 27
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 28
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 29
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 30
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 31
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 32
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 33
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 34
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 35
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 36
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 37
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 38
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 39
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 40
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 41
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 42
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 43
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 44
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 45
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 46
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 47
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 48
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 49
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 50
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 51
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 52
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 53
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 54
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 55
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 56
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 57
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 58
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 59
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 60
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 61
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 62
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 63
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 64
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 65
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 66
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 67
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 68
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 69
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 70
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 71
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 72
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 73
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 74
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 75
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 76
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 77
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 78
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 79
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - 80
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - Cover3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2014 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com