Boston University’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said it sees video cameras positioned around campus that feed onto the Internet as privacy invasions — not the candid glimpse at student life BU’s marketing department said it aims to present.
BU Today has been broadcasting live, 24-hour webcam feed from the climbing wall at the Fitness and Recreation Center, the George Sherman Union Link, Marsh Plaza, the Medical Campus Quad, the School of Public Health and several roadways on its website for two years.
“It’s ridiculous and wrong that students are monitored without consent,” BU ACLU President Ryan Menezes said. “There’s something immoral about casting students on web. People have reasons for keeping their daily routines private.”
BU Today Executive Editor Art Jahnke said the site uses the cameras because they think “people would like to see them.” From September 2007 to Feb. 14, Jahnke said the page, displaying the web-cam feeds, received 11,125 hits — making the candid shots the site’s sixth-most-popular feature.
While some cameras display a panoramic shot, others are slightly more personal, making individuals clearly distinguishable.
Jahnke said he and the BU Today staff do not think the community’s rights are being violated by the cameras, which he said are legal.
“I haven’t heard any complaints of discomfort,” he said. “The cameras are in public places [where] there’s no expectation of privacy. Anyone could put a camera in a public place.”
“We think people like them. They’re legal. They’re a good thing and if people don’t think they’re a good thing, they should let us know.”
Although students who visit BU Today’s website can see the webcam feeds by going to the homepage’s “Quick Links” application, the cameras are not labeled in their public locations.
Menezes, a College of Communication and College of Arts and Sciences senior and former Daily Free Press staff reporter, said he was especially turned off by the camera in FitRec because camera phones and other handheld cameras are prohibited in the facility.
Some students said they see the cameras as novelty website features.
“It’s not really a bad thing,” College of Communication junior Daniel Cullen said. “I think it’s cool because it gives you insight into the environment on campus.”
Menezes said the ACLU hopes to get word out about the cameras, and hopes if more people verbalize disapproval for the webcam, BU Today will respond.
“We suspect there are lots of people who don’t know [the cameras] are there and will object to them,” he said. “We hope BU Today will agree, at the very least, to let people know what’s going on by posting signs.”