Women filmed in secret for social media content - then harassed online
www.bbc.com
So-called manfluencers wearing smart glasses approach women and then post videos to TikTok and Instagram.

Dilara was on her lunch break in the London store where she works when a tall man walked up to her and said: “I swear red hair means you’ve just been heartbroken.”

The man continued the conversation as they both got in a lift, and he asked Dilara for her phone number.

What Dilara did not realise was that the man was secretly filming her on his smart glasses - which look like normal eyewear but have a tiny camera which can record video.

The footage was then posted to TikTok, where it received 1.3m views. “I just wanted to cry,” Dilara, 21, told the BBC.

The man who filmed her, it turned out, had posted dozens of secretly filmed videos to TikTok, giving men tips on how to approach women.

Dilara also found out that her phone number was visible in the video. She then faced a wave of messages and calls.

  • scholar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    21 days ago

    Yes CCTV in public is not inherently evil, where it is obvious and not hidden. What I was talking about though was the right of the public to photograph and film in public spaces. Without that right there would be no street photography, no citizen journalism exposing police abuse of power, no youtubers making videos about strange and interesting things in public, no footage of people committing crimes in public, no videos of cats in Istanbul. This (and more) is what would be lost if we ban cameras from public places.

    When authorities abuse their power the only protection is evidence and public backlash. The best evidence is video evidence. That’s why the police wearing body worn cameras is a good thing, it means the public can hold them to account if they misbehave.

    There is a big difference between passive CCTV (recordings can be accessed if needed) and active CCTV (continually scanned by AI combined with facial recognition). I do think that unless there is serious pushback against facial recognition it will be increasingly implemented, despite the risks, however your worries about the police scanning your facial expression and sending plain clothes officers after you are completely unfounded and a little bit unhinged.