Big Brother Is Watching You

Widespread use of security cameras in Korea causes invasion of privacy
Robert Neff
OhmyNews International
Dec. 05, 2006

They are everywhere, most of the time they are inconspicuously placed, secretly watching our every move. Other times they are placed out in the open with signs announcing their presence in an attempt to scare us to comply with the established rules. Surveillance cameras are now a part of our everyday life.

We expect to see, or not see, these cameras in banks and other secure areas, such as airports and courthouses. Convenience stores and shopping centers have cameras scattered all throughout them in an effort to prevent shoplifting. But there are other places that perhaps we don't really expect them.

Most buses have cameras over the driver's seat pointed at the door, or more specifically, the collection box. Many restaurants have cameras in them, but I am unsure what their true purpose is -- whether it is to ensure that silverware remains in place, or to be used as evidence of drunken patrons' irresponsible behavior.

Even PC rooms have cameras scattered about them -- perhaps to ensure that people are not visiting illegal sites, or to prevent illegal copying, and also to help prevent people from leaving without paying. I have noticed that a lot of the PC rooms have cameras located right over the cashier's desk -- perhaps to protect him or her from one of the very infrequent robberies, or, more than likely, to prevent them from surreptitiously removing some of the owner's profits.

Perhaps even more surprising, and to a lot of people more alarming, are the large numbers of cameras that are being placed on the streets and in neighborhoods of Seoul. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, there are more than 7,300 cameras installed by the city to monitor crime and traffic. Within the next four years the city will have two to four CCTV cameras in each of the elementary schools in Seoul in an effort to prevent school violence and other crimes.

But how well do these work? "Seoul is now a 'heaven' for CCTV cameras," Choi Kyoo-shik, a lawmaker of the Uri Party, stated. He noted that in Kangnam district, where large numbers of cameras are located, the rate of homicides, rapes, and robberies before and after the cameras were installed are virtually unchanged. Despite the lack of any "proof that a higher number of cameras result in reduced crime," the metropolitan government continues to add them.

There have been a number of incidents on buses involving drunk or irate passengers verbally or physically assaulting the driver. One incident that has received a lot of publicity took place in city outside of northern Seoul involving a number of allegedly drunk and disorderly American soldiers. The video camera over the bus driver seems to support his claim that the soldiers were unruly.

These cameras have also been used to identify guilty parties in traffic accidents, but unfortunately not all of them actually record. In the Mokdong area a young woman was killed in an apparent traffic accident within view of a camera, but as evidenced by the old banner hung up by the police or her family seeking witnesses to the event, the camera did not work well enough to help her.

Not only are cameras used to help fight crime, but also to commit crimes. Voyeurs and peeping Toms have always been a nuisance to society, but with a camera they are cause for even more concern. On Oct. 30, around 4 p.m. at Seoul University, a female student went into the women's bathroom on the second floor of the Humanities Department to use the facilities. She was alarmed to discover a camera lens at the bottom of the bathroom stall pointed up at her. She yelled for assistance and was shocked to see a young man in his 20s calmly walk out of the stall next to her and disappear out the door. This is not the first time an incident like this has happened at one of the universities.

In fact, surreptitiously filming unsuspecting victims was a cause of great concern several years ago when several motels and video rooms (places to watch rent and watch movies) were discovered to have secret cameras filming intimate affairs. One man is even allegedly to have discovered himself and his partner in a pornographic video. Investigators have been sent out in the past to check for hidden cameras and many criminals using these hidden cameras have been discovered, but not all cameras are hidden -- some are carried with us.

Many pictures taken in saunas, swimming pools, and in restrooms have been placed on the Internet. In an attempt to prevent this abuse, many small cameras are required to make an audible noise when they take pictures, but not all of them do, and if they do make noise it is often not loud enough to be heard in a public place.

As cameras get smaller and cheaper, and the picture quality better and better, they are going to continue to become a more intrusive part of our life.