Student using phone in a public space - Kevin Thorn, CMRU.ca
Public spaces are not private
In 2023 any public space will be filled with smartphones taking pictures and recording videos at any given moment. This should just be an expectation. For instance, if I just so happen to walk behind someone taking a photo with their friends, I end up in their picture. If someone is taking a facetime call, their surroundings will likely end up in the video. These are the limitations to privacy in public I think most reasonable people would accept.
Sharing experiences
We share our experiences with our friends and family by taking photos and videos, it’s just the way the modern world works and a great way for people to stay connected. This doesn’t mean that I think it’s reasonable for someone to record a stranger without consent. Consent is especially important when it comes to intentionally taking a video or picture of somebody in a public space. However, this isn’t as black-and-white as it sounds, because not every situation is the same.
Fail videos
I get a lot of entertainment out of watching fail-videos online. None of these videos would have been recorded with explicit consent from their subjects, but they are mostly harmless. It may be embarrassing to be the person who backed into someone in a parking lot and ended up on YouTube, but this likely won’t impact your life in any major way.
When privacy matters
This is exactly how the Supreme Court of Canada feels about public recordings as well. The Court’s list of privacy factors to take into consideration came into play after a middle-school teacher went to court for recording young girl students for sexual purposes without their knowledge. This is an extreme case and an obvious invasion of privacy but situations like this highlight why we all need to care about privacy.
Who we need to protect
A common phrase I’ve heard a lot when people talk about their privacy is “I don’t have anything to hide”, but just because you’re okay with having no privacy doesn’t mean everybody feels that way. This kind of glib attitude about privacy should most definitely not be applied to children. Kids don’t have the capacity to give informed consent and need our protection.
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