What does everyone think of sousveillance?

Started by zarus tathra, August 10, 2013, 04:59:27 PM

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zarus tathra

The tl;dr of sousveillance is that yes, there are cameras located publicly, but unlike surveillance cameras, these cameras can be accessed by the public. It's democratic surveillance that makes it very difficult for one small group to have a disproportionate amount of information on others. It would have the kind of social control and order that people would want from a well-ordered society, but without the deception and concentration of power that characterizes all governments. This would lead, IMO, to less policing and at the same time less crime, since the people would police each other.
?"Belief is always most desired, most pressingly needed, when there is a lack of will." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Ideals are imperfect. Morals are self-serving.

Plu

I can see plenty of ways to abuse a system like that. The only thing worse than only allowing government employees with proper screening to access the data is to just let everyone see it.

zarus tathra

I think the abuses that are made possible by public access are much smaller than the abuses made possible by privileged access.
?"Belief is always most desired, most pressingly needed, when there is a lack of will." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Ideals are imperfect. Morals are self-serving.

Plu

They're bigger by definition; any abuse that's possible with priviliged access is still possible. You just add in more chances of abuse happening, especially since it's impossible to monitor who is watching what when you open up the stream.

Shiranu

Quote...since the people would police each other.

Have you met the people? I have. I sure as fuck don't want to be policed by "the people". Those people are crazy...
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

zarus tathra

Fine, they're crazy individually, but it's rare for them to be able to agree on the kind of crazy they want to enforce.
?"Belief is always most desired, most pressingly needed, when there is a lack of will." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Ideals are imperfect. Morals are self-serving.

LikelyToBreak

I would be worried about the prosecution of doppelgangers.  If someone couldn't account for every minute of their day, with witnesses, then they might be held liable for things others did.  

I do like the idea of police wearing audio/video recording devices.  And it would be great if private citizens could wear them and turn them on whenever they felt the need to.  They might even be able to broadcast to a central receiving area, such as a private security firm.  If the central receiving people noticed something off, they would contact the police and be able to describe to them what is happening.  Some people might even wear cheap fake ones, just to help ward off crime.  

But, just stationary cameras where people can just watch them, well the abuse of the system would probably far out weigh the good the system would do.  For instance, suppose I'm a stalker, I'm not because I'm too lazy, but suppose I was.  I could learn someone's schedule and figure out how to kidnap them in the best manner.  If you suspected your wife of cheating on you, you could watch to see if she showed up at the Motel 6.  Seeing someone wearing the same type of coat she has hanging in the closet at the moment, you go crazy with jealously, go to the Motel 6 and hit some poor slob with a baseball bat thinking it is your wife's lover.  In the mean time, your wife is at home grumbling about you not being there to help her put away the groceries.

I can see the attractiveness of the system though.  And it might be a good idea to install these systems in every government office in the country.  But, I don't see the government allowing the people see what they do though.

Johan

Quote from: "zarus tathra"This would lead, IMO, to less policing and at the same time less crime, since the people would police each other.
People policing each other? How would that work exactly in terms of these cameras that you speak of?

I mean right now its not uncommon for people to commit crimes in plain view others while they stand by and do nothing. So if people who are standing right there just watch and do nothing, what is a human sloth sitting on his couch half way round the world watching some live camera feed on his laptop going to do to 'police' the situation?

As for cameras on the street? Meh, I don't really care either way. They're already in use and I expect them to become more wide spread as time goes on. If they want to give the public access to those feeds, so be it but it wouldn't make me feel any better or worse about the situation.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false and by the rulers as useful

stromboli

I think the experience we recently had with the Boston Marathon bombers is the best example. Many people got picked out as perpetrators and received undue attention from law enforcement, because of sites like Reddit and 4chan. You have everybody monitoring everybody and it amounts to a vigilante mindset, which is dangerous. I don't like the idea of being monitored personally, but in a public setting it serves a valuable purpose; not necessarily one open to every set of eyes, but to be used by trained operators.

Colanth

Scenario.  Your neighbor hates you and wishes there was a way to get you to move away.  A nearby store is robbed, but no one can describe the robber.  Your neighbor calls the police and tells them that he was watching the camera down the block from the store, and saw you running out of the store at the time it was robbed.

I doubt that they'll keep recordings of tens of thousands of cameras, so do we accept your neighbor's word as useful data or not?
Afflicting the comfortable for 70 years.
Science builds skyscrapers, faith flies planes into them.

Plu

QuoteI do like the idea of police wearing audio/video recording devices. And it would be great if private citizens could wear them and turn them on whenever they felt the need to.

Still sounds like google glass.

zarus tathra

Quote from: "Colanth"Scenario.  Your neighbor hates you and wishes there was a way to get you to move away.  A nearby store is robbed, but no one can describe the robber.  Your neighbor calls the police and tells them that he was watching the camera down the block from the store, and saw you running out of the store at the time it was robbed.

I doubt that they'll keep recordings of tens of thousands of cameras, so do we accept your neighbor's word as useful data or not?

The thing that's of use is the camera and not the man. So no.

Plus, all the scenarios you describe are so... improbable.
?"Belief is always most desired, most pressingly needed, when there is a lack of will." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Ideals are imperfect. Morals are self-serving.

Plu

Those scenario's also sound improbable because you probaly don't deal much with dumbasses, but they make up a large part of the population. I don't consider them unlikely, I consider them the first thing that'll happen.

Although the camera images will probably be stored for a while, so this specific scenario probably won't work. But various kinds of stalking issues, people using the cameras to find people they can mug, along with a bunch of other bad scenario's make it a pretty bad idea.

SilentFutility

Quote from: "Colanth"Scenario.  Your neighbor hates you and wishes there was a way to get you to move away.  A nearby store is robbed, but no one can describe the robber.  Your neighbor calls the police and tells them that he was watching the camera down the block from the store, and saw you running out of the store at the time it was robbed.

I doubt that they'll keep recordings of tens of thousands of cameras, so do we accept your neighbor's word as useful data or not?
Imagine the same scenario except he says he saw you with his own eyes.

Johan

Quote from: "Colanth"I doubt that they'll keep recordings of tens of thousands of cameras, so do we accept your neighbor's word as useful data or not?
Cameras are useless unless the images are stored. So it is highly unlikely that this sort of scenario would ever be possible.

However on the off chance that it were to become reality, it would be likely that such a person would have done things in the past that would illustrate his feelings toward his neighbor. Once evidence and/or testimony of those things are presented at trial, the otherwise unsubstantiated claim would likely carry little weight with a jury.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false and by the rulers as useful