Are they watching? Undoubtedly. Who are “they”? Only they know, but I am assuming it is some government agent, or maybe some odd kid in a basement somewhere. I have recently determined that the only time I have privacy is when I am locked in my own apartment. However, I own an Echo Dot by Amazon. So I guess the only time I have true privacy is when I am in my own apartment and am being silent, or maybe when I am in my own apartment and my Echo Dot is unplugged. I, of course, am referring to my apartment in it’s most “locked down” sense (e.g. blinds shut, thick walls, etc.)
Yesterday I asked my good friend Tyrone Smoot, a recent Butler graduate, how far he thinks the cameras on our emergency call pillars can see. He said, “They can probably see the cars in the parking lot, but maybe not the license plates.” I asked him if he thinks it can make out my face. He replied, “In the day, yes, but in the night, no. However, you are always being recorded. I don’t worry about that camera, but rather, all of the ones I can’t see.” He then proceeded to climb into his car like everything was A-OK. As if he could tell me that I am always being recorded, and I not completely lose my shit. Spoiler Alert: He was wrong. Everything was not A-OK, and I did in fact, “lose my shit”.
A lot of people argue that if I am not doing anything wrong then why should it matter if I am being recorded. This argument seems sound at first; however, it relies on the ideas that I 1) define “doing something wrong” as doing something immoral or illegal, which I do not and 2) that I am okay with being recorded as long as I do not perceive my actions as wrong, which I am not.
First, let’s expand on issue #1 a little further. Sometimes I dance when I believe nobody is watching. Me dancing is a prime example of me doing something wrong. It is not immoral, nor is it illegal. However, it is unsightly and should not be seen by the public, much less, be recorded and immortalized.
Second of all, even if I was just walking to class, no dance moves, no tomfoolery. I would still not be okay with being recorded. I catch an attitude when someone looks at me too long. The idea that somebody could look at me once in person then look at me an innumerable more amount of times through video is extremely upsetting for me.
However, do you know what is even more upsetting? I am publishing this article for everybody to see. “They” could see it. They could know that I know. However, I will never know if they know. In that way, they win. In that way, they will always win.