Many police and sheriff departments throughout the nation are moving to body cams for their officers.  Some units reside in glasses that are worn; some are located on the shoulder epaulets.  Some clip to the front of the shirt.

Though not all agencies have aligned themselves with these units, and some agencies are struggling with the policies to attend their utilization, there is an excellent chance that if you now come in contact with a law enforcement officer these days — including officers on motors — you are either on a dashcam or a body cam, or both.

Now, there are two new cams becoming more popular with the public, the Narrative and the Autographer.  From this article in the Wall Street Journal, the reviewer believes:

by Geoffrey A. Fowler

I’ve been snapping photos of everything in front of me for the last week. If we’ve passed, even for a moment, I probably have a picture of your face.

I’m not a spy, but I’ve been using gear you might associate with 007. New matchbook-size cameras that clip to your tie or shirt let you capture a day’s worth of encounters, then upload them to the Internet to be remembered forever.

Why on Earth would anybody want to do that? After trying out two devices that recently began shipping, the $279 Narrative Clip and $399 Autographer, I think the answer for many will be why wouldn’t you?

Allow me to reply.  Why would you?  If you’re a large chunk of a self-centered asshole, perhaps you would.  The author readily admits: if I walked by you, I have you caught on my cam.  It’s not a terribly unforeseen thing that your location and the time of your presence there could easily be determined.  At best, creepy; at worst, I’m going to punch you in the face for recording me.

But there’s a cost to amassing so much photographic evidence. The tiny cameras made others uncomfortable when they found out they were being recorded. Some friends wouldn’t hug me; gossiping colleagues kept asking, “Is that thing on?” These devices upset a fundamental (though arguably flawed) assumption that even in public, you aren’t being recorded.

Makes you squirm, doesn’t it? One reason I wanted to review these cameras is that this kind of technology isn’t going away. “Always on” cameras are becoming popular in home electronics like the Xbox One and a new wave of streaming video security systems. Now you can buy cameras that attach to your wrist, ear, bike helmet and eyeglasses. They’re also fast becoming part of the uniforms of cops, soldiers and doctors.

Your thoughts?

Is this really where you want technology to go?  Where we want our civilization to go?

I say: this isn’t my world.  I once had actual privacy.  I’d like to at least kid myself for a few more years that I have a partial semblance of privacy left.

Do you really want to live in a country where your every waking moment is watched, gauged, monitored, prone to greater regulations and enforcement, and subject to critical examination from now until the end of time?

I’m not a robot, I’m a human being.

The cops don’t have a choice.

You do.

BZ