I don't think that just because my face is in public, it's should become content.
This is something that I have been thinking it more often since then.
Smartphones are turning content creation into a daily routine, so in many ways it's undeniable that every time you stroll down a bustling street, go to a party, or simply have a quiet afternoon at a restaurant, you are in a picture or two. It usually goes unnoticed and happens a lot times.
To be honest I'm sure I've been in hundreds of people's pictures without knowing, and i might have even been in on some viral video, who knows?.
Would that be a problem?
Not always.
I don't think it's a problem if I'm just in a crowd or just walk in somebody's shot. Public places are public places. There's no way that every photographer, tourist, journalist and content creator would have to seek permission from every individual who may appear in the background.
That would render public storytelling virtually unfeasible.
But that's where I believe the dialogue shifts.
It's one thing to be a bystander and quite another to be the center of a video.
I think my privacy should be better protected if someone purposefully takes a camera and points it at me and then follows me around, zooming in on my face, and creating content based on my reactions without my knowledge.
From then on, it's not just a matter of documenting public life.
It's about exploiting someone else's identity over material they are not interested in.
I feel that's the line to be drawn.
If all public recordings were made illegal, then there would be a problem.
Consider documentary filmmaking, travel creation, journalism, wedding photography, street photography or just regular people attempting to document a moment with loved ones and friends.
Many beauties are told because life just happens in public spaces.
With everyone having to sign a form to allow their face to be used, much of the authenticity would be lost.
The Internet has already proven the efficacy of authentic moments.
Some videos motivate people. Some videos can motivate people.
Some expose injustice.
Some preserve history.
Others just bring a smile to our faces and i don't want laws to be so stringent that they stifle creativity.
I don't think creators should use “It was taken in public” as some sort of excuse for anything at the same time.
Respect still matters.
Context still matters.
Intent still matters.
It's very easy to record someone, thanks to technology.
It should also facilitate our respecting their dignity.
Who knows... maybe if I found myself in someone's video walking through a public market, I might just think, "Eh, it's not a big deal.
But if I'd wake up one morning to discover my face was being used as the thumbnail for a video that was being widely shared and with an inappropriate caption, I would feel violated.
Not due to my face being seen.
But I had no idea that my image was going to be used on a story that I didn't agree to tell.
I don't feel we should legislate against the accidental appearance in public photos and video.
We need more definite limits to prevent people being exploited, and give creators a safe way to keep recording what's happening in the world around them.
There is no competition between rights.
There is a way to have privacy and creativity.
The difficulty will be ensuring that one isn't used to cancel out the other.
After all, cameras can shoot our picture in public, but not our right to be treated with respect!
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