[tech] New Cameras in UCC

[James Andrewartha]

On Mon, 11 May 2009, Nick Bannon wrote:

> On Tue, May 05, 2009 at 11:33:59PM +0800, mitch at ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au wrote:
> > Does anyone see an issue with this happening, YES for the mean time  
> > these cameras are not going to be publicly viewable, This WILL change  
> > once the system is working.
> >
> > If you urgently require view access to these cameras your welcome to  
> > logon to http://camwhore.ucc.asn.au:8990/zm/index.php with Username view 
> > and Password view
> 
> I don't quite understand this - in the meantime, that link and
> view:view account _is_ working. It is publicly viewable, right? Which
> at least is close to the status quo with the current webcams,
> http://webcam.ucc.asn.au/ .
>
> I do feel uneasy about new, clearer, faster webcams. Each and every
> one - a bland sign on the door "You may be recorded" is not actually
> conveying the reality of the situation if you can't see the picture the
> camera can see. They're fun to play with, they might have some upsides,
> but the cameras have been abused before and they will be again.

To me, the most abusable part of these new cameras is the almost video 
speed updating. So I think that shouldn't be viewable, only the archives 
and perhaps a 30 second updated image for the current webcam page.

> I think that any club cameras should be public ones. If a camera watches
> you, you should have direct access to its footage; if it's watching a
> public place, its footage should be public. Wouldn't it be useful if a
> URL was printed under every camera?

No, I don't think it would be useful, as this would draw attention to 
them. Let me back up and explain this: the main reason for the new webcams 
is to be unobvious to the thief, who disabled the two webcams that were 
fairly obvious. So having a blanket statement that there are cameras, and 
they can all be viewed at at a given URL is enough. This URL should be 
restricted to UCC members only, as it's not them that we face a theft risk 
from, and UCC isn't a public place, it's a clubroom for its members.

> On Wed, May 06, 2009 at 09:48:47AM +0800, Alex Dawson wrote:
> > Can we also have it opened up to UCC members anywhere, instead of just  
> > the clubroom? It's nice to be able to see who is in there before making 
> > the trek in.
> [...]
> 
> That's true, that's a real day-to-day practical benefit, not just a hope
> that we'll catch a thief after the fact once in a while.

See up about being viewable to UCC members only.

> I do see a potential transparency benefit in publicly logging access to
> the captured data, and discouraging collecting it wholesale (and slagging
> the network link?) or republishing it.

See up about not having a video feed. We could always assert copyright 
over the images and give a license to view only.

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