Privacy researcher: Public Web cams troublesome
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Camera Watch co-originator Elaine Newton
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(CNN) -- A new project launched by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University provides Web surfers access to a data base of video images from Web cams in public places.
The Camera Watch project offers access to cameras that capture video of people who often are unaware they are being watched.
Researchers on the Carnegie Mellon team estimate there are about 10,000 such cameras in the country. They hope to learn enough to propose policies to govern the cameras' use
CNN correspondent Daniel Sieberg spoke Saturday about the project with PhD fellow and Camera Watch co-originator Elaine Newton.
SIEBERG: Tell us first why you came up with this idea, this database.
NEWTON:There has been a general data explosion. Since 1996, there has been more and more storage of personal information across the country and across the world. So this speaks to the volume of data being collected about people, and we are trying to show that it's not just addresses, Social Security numbers, but also video data.
SIEBERG: We're seeing what this Web site looks like. You can actually go to the site, choose a particular city, and see where the different Web cams are. Some of them you can even control yourself ... How can people find out more information about this database? Can they go to the site and actually see where these cameras are?
NEWTON: Certainly. They can go to the Web site and search for the city they want to look for and what type of cameras. There are about 1,000 put up right now, and they are continuing to collect cameras.
SIEBERG: What types of cameras are we talking about? Are these security cameras, ATM cameras? Where is this feed coming from?
NEWTON: Well, these are cameras ranging from government to universities, individuals that just put a Web camera up and stream it on to the Internet. Most of these are Department of Transportation cameras that are being used to look at traffic patterns and congestion. But there are also university cameras and those are probably the more troublesome ones, because there are so many people who pass in front of those cameras and so much happens on universities.
SIEBERG: Let's talk a little bit about the concerns that you have, and the reasons you have decided to do this. There are some issues of national security and privacy involved here, right?
NEWTON: Sure. National security because these cameras can be accessed at anytime, anywhere, by any person with whatever motivation they have, and it's a freedom of speech issue and freedom of association issue as well, because you can watch where these cameras are pointing, tilt and zoom, and see where people are going at any time of day.
