A firm called Internet Eyes from the UK is allowing people to watch customers and employees through a real-time webcam. If they see something suspicious they push an alert button and if a crime ends up being prevented the person gets paid.
A prospective spy needs to register with the company and of course sit monitoring for who knows how long until they find something worthy of pushing the alert button for.
I think this is smart on the part of the business because they only have to pay someone when a crime occurs. Hiring 24/7 security watchers can get expensive but having anyone play security for as long as they want and only pay them when something goes down is a good deal to me.
Now from the perspective of the customers and employees I find this a bit of an invasion of privacy. If a business wants to monitor you then you can trust their intentions are professional. On the internet, however, anyone can register for any reason to watch anyone. You cannot control who would want to register for this and for what reason. And I doubt anyone would freely monitor a webcam for free for long periods of time thinking there is money to be made off of this. I personally feel this would attract voyeurs in addition to people who truly just want to "work" for free.
I also think it could be used to stalk someone. If you know someone who works in or frequents the store that is being monitored you can see what they are doing while they are there at all times. And you could screen capture the live feed or record it and spread it to anyone anywhere via the internet. The site makes the user agree to the following:
"I will not attempt to copy or use images seen on Internet Eyes for any other purpose. I understand that misuse of personal data may be a crime under Data Protection laws." For more on Data Protection laws in the UK visit http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents.
If only people were to not improperly use images or video knowing they could be charged for it. Most people feel the internet is so free and unregulated they can get away with anything. I can think of a recent case involving improper streaming video which led to a suicide that is now leading to the responsible parties being charged with a crime.
In my opinion, businesses should hire their own professional security personnel. At least they screen them through the application process. Either that or pay the person monitoring the webcam some rate and/or have a strong application procedure in order to better screen who is wanting to join.
In regards to employees of Internet Eyes, I did read that they do get paid a small percentage for just watching. I'm sure they didn't they'd give up quickly since the incentives are small as it is. I 100% agree with what you said about a screening process of possible employees. Also, you mentioned screen shots and other ways people could take advantage of Internet Eyes. The first thing I thought of was that someone could take a video camera and record their computer screen, assuming the site makes it impossible to do anything from your computer. With that footage, the "employee" can do anything.
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent for the business side. You may never know if the employee themselves are stealing or if the employee responsible for watching people on the camera are also part of the crime by "looking the other way".
ReplyDeleteAs for the consumer, I do not think it matter's if they are being watched in the store, or even on the internet. If you are entering in a monitored area, there is no excuse for you to do something unethical, even if you think you are by yourself. You are in a public area, where there is no such think as "privacy" - you are bound to be recorded, especially in a store.
And for the stalking part, that is pretty scary! I never thought of it that way, but it is still pretty creepy.