Watching them watch me

Entry #523
Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Every once in a while, I scan httpd logs just to see what's goin' on. I've also got crunched, graphical numbers, but I'm more of a raw log scanner. I like to see the funny things people search for, and occasionally I catch something out of the ordinary -- missing pages that need redirects, insecure web directories, things like that. When I had that funny Sidran campaign encounter, I noticed the lawyers at Perkins Coie checking out my site (and made it display something different for them).

Today I noticed some folks from Patriot Communications looking at my ADADs stuff. They got to my page by searching Google for "ben hemp" then going through a series of four links on Hemp.Net -- they were obviously looking for me in specific. I bet they're just doing "opposition research," a tactic any serious political campaign does. Most businesses don't do this sort of thing, but it looks like this one makes a lot of money using illegal marketing tactics, so it's worth their while to check up on little shits like me.

My newest "project" involves DVRSP -- the Digital Video Recording System Project at Metro Transit. A few months back, Lisa and I were on the number 5 down to Seattle Center to catch a play at Book-It Theater. Now Lisa and I are complete dorks around each other, so we were acting silly as per usual. Suddenly I noticed a camera mounted to the ceiling six feet in front of us.

I stopped. I couldn't be silly. They were taping me. "When the hell did they start putting cameras on the buses?" This was soon after September 11, so I hypothesized it had something to do with terrorism, which didn't sit well with me.

I started thinking of little culture jams with these cameras as targets. Sitting there with the camera staring at me, the first thing I thought of was covering the damn thing with duct tape or a sticker -- anything to stop it from staring at me. I realized right away that that was nowhere near sophisticated enough; it would simply be seen as vandalism. I needed something better.

When I searched the Metro site for info about the cameras, I came across the limited info here. They've been planning this since before the terrorists attacks, which made me feel a bit better, which is funny. They're collecting all video in digital format, which made me think, hey, why not edit some of this video and stick it on public access. I've been wanting to mess with video editing on my computer for quite a while; this will give me an excuse.

I emailed the guy in charge of the project and told him I wanted to get access to the video and asked if there was something to fill out, if I had to make a public disclosure request, or what the process was. He didn't respond too quick, so a week and a half later -- yesterday -- I called him. He told me that I would indeed have to make a public disclosure request and emailed me the contact info for the public disclosure request guy.

So I'm on the road to getting some of this video. I'm still unsure what I'll do with it, though the public access thing is the best I've got so far. Depending on how I fare with the video editing software, I'd like to show like four different cameras on the screen, then select one and zoom in on it -- make it like some computer is watching all these cameras.

The thing that bugged me most was that I had never heard a single thing about this camera stuff. I figured that was my fault, like Metro had mentioned it in some newsletter or something. But I'm beginning to think they've never mentioned it at all. I asked the guy in charge of the project if they had any more documentation or printed materials about this project, and he said they didn't -- just what was on the web. I asked if there were any upcoming meetings I could attend where this project would be discussed and he said there wasn't. He said something to the effect of, "if you mean public meetings or a chance for public input, no, we don't have any of that."

Mostly I just want to let people know about this. If you're all for video cameras on buses, so be it. Me personally, I'm not. If you don't understand why such a surveillance-camera-ridden society is not a good thing, check out the "what's the harm" section over at iSee, a very timely link I saw on Slashdot a few weeks back.

Essentially, I don't like being treated as if I'm already guilty -- which I believe cameras do. I can handle them in moderation, just as I can handle people eating animals or burning plastic in moderation. But when you go overboard, it's a bad thing. Surveillance cameras are becoming ubiquitous -- all the time we're watched to make sure we don't commit crimes. That's not the type of society I want to live in.

Another reason I don't like them is because I don't feel comfortable acting silly around my girlfriend while a camera stares down at me. We're not making out or anything tantalizing, we're just acting like dorks. But the camera makes me sit up straight and stare forward and not do anything unusual.

Now I'm thinking it might be fun to try and get a story in the paper about a company selling this video, because people often get mad when companies sell their information, and video of you is pretty much "your information." Maybe I could set up a web site with a bunch of marketing speak about how we can track deadbeat dads and cheating wives or something like that -- something titillating that the media would eat up. Then get a goody-two-shoes privacy advocate to create an "uproar."

I spoke with Jerry Sheehan at the ACLU today about public disclosure requests and he said there was pretty much no way in hell they could deny my request. So I'm feeling pretty confident that I can get my hands on some of the video.

So ya, send any ideas my way. I just want to create a little bit of public dialogue -- and do so in a creative way.

Comment on this entry

In Norway there are cameras all over. Cameras give you speeding tickets. Cameras watch certain areas (busy intersections, ATM machines and numerous others) but as far as I can tell there is ALWAYS a sign that says there is a camera around. The usual one is "Smil! Omraadet er video-overvaaket" or something like that, so basically "Smile! You're on video!" ... quite funny actually. Though the speeding ticket thing is hilarious. They have these speed detector things all over and they have about 1/10 as many cameras as speed detectors, so they're always moving them around and stuff. But if one catches you speeding you just get a bill in the mail. That's all. And if you want you can go down to the police office and watch the video of you speeding. Hehe. Point is, it's not so bad if you know about it.

Actually, I noticed almost a year ago this sign on the newer buses that said "Video and Audio survellance for your protection" some kinda bullshit like that. Anyway, those motherfuckers have been aroond well before 9-11, I can't understand why you'd be unsettled by them. God, can't you see the Man is only thinking of our safety--I mean, it's quite possible that WE could not only be a danger to ourselves but to others as well. Gosh, that's why I'm so glad that video and audio surveillance is there. In fact, I give the camera the finger while I talk aboot my white baby/opium smuggling ring--just to show my appreciation.

Well, I'm sorry if a little history is out of line here, but I used to live in Seattle (on Cap hill) and I have seen these things around since 1998. September 5, 1998 to be exact. On bus number 4010, running the 44 route. Later, they had the 4010 running the 9 route, in October of 1998.

OK, so I am a little bit weird for keeping trivia like this...

At the time, TeeVee news stories mentioned that the bus was the only one in the fleet, and that the cameras were a test.

Since the famous "Aurora Bridge" incident happened on Nov 27, 1998, I have to conclude that the cameras were NOT a reaction to the fatal shooting and crash caused by "Silas Cool," the man blamed for the incident. A camera was not needed to identify his gun, his powderburns, or his traumatic injuries and probable position when the bus went off the bridge.

Of course, I did not notice at the time that the cameras were domed. Presumably they have them domed so that people don't know which way they are pointing. They probably are not remotely 'piloted' and serve in fixed positions or in mechanically sweeping patterns. The domes could also serve as protection in case a sticker was placed on a lens or a cord were too tempting to leave intact.