Smile: you’re on constant camera

For the past few weeks, police and protesters have been clashing, both in the United States and Canada, and, as part of those clashes, incidents have occurred where police have said one thing had happened, and then video evidence has surfaced, contradicting them. (For example, the 75-year-old man in Buffalo who police said slipped and fell, but as video later showed, was actually knocked to the ground and injured by police.)

So, here’s the thing: at this point, almost all of us carry handy pieces of technology that take excellent photographs, and really quite superior video. You may know them as smart phones.

They are so ubiquitous that, no matter what you’re doing in a public place (even in your car, sitting at a red light), there’s now a good solid chance that someone might be videoing you as you do it.

The solution? It’s simple, really. Don’t do things that you wouldn’t want videoed and uploaded to the internet.

Now, there are other options.

Maybe, as a police officer, you see someone taking video of you doing something you shouldn’t be doing, and you may abuse your power and demand they hand over their phone so you can delete the video.

But here are a few handy Canadian facts about police, protests and smart phones, courtesy of PEN Canada.

“Subject to certain very limited constraints, it is not a crime in Canada for anyone to do any of the following things, and it is a violation of their Charter rights to prevent anyone from doing so: photographing or filming in any public place, or in any private place to which the public is admitted, and publishing those pictures and films; taking pictures of or filming in any government site other than 'restricted access areas'; photographing or filming police officers in public, as long as the photographer/filmmaker does not obstruct or interfere with the execution of police duties. While everyone has a reasonable expectation of privacy in certain circumstances, police officers have no reasonable expectation of privacy as they go about their duties.

“A police officer does not have the right to confiscate cameras or recording equipment (including phones), unless the person in possession of such equipment is under arrest and such equipment is necessarily relevant to the alleged offence. A police officer cannot force anyone to show, unlock or decrypt cameras or recording equipment, or to delete images, even when that person is under arrest, unless the police officer has a warrant or a court order permitting him to do so.”

So, what’s the best course?

If it won’t withstand public scrutiny, whether you’re a protester, a police officer or a pedestrian, don’t do it.