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TECH | CULTURE
The Internet Is Watching — and We’ve Stopped Caring
We used to fear surveillance, but now, we feed it
It’s 6:05pm, and I’m sitting in a café, sipping on a ginger lemon tea, minding my own business.
A woman wearing a sporty red coat and some loose jeans walks in, camera strapped around her neck and an eager look in her eyes. She is in her forties maybe, harmless looking. Sweet even.
“This place is incredible” she mumbles to herself as she navigates the café, snapping pictures of the aesthetic wall-length windows, low-hanging lamps and jungle of plants.
She seems to be taking pictures around the people minding their own business, like me. But inevitably, some will end up in her shots. She keeps snapping though. Not too concerned about privacy. Maybe capturing images of trendy cafés is part of her job description.
I don’t say anything, because she hasn’t directly aimed her lens at me. But now she is outside the café taking a frontal shot of the large black framed wall of glass. I am now undeniably in her shot. The glass isn’t opaque from the outside.
I wasn’t asked for consent to be photographed. Not before or after the shot was taken. I also will never know where this image will end up. Online or…
