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Apple Store Artist Raided By Secret Service

Posted by timothy on from the innocent-whistling-at-very-high-pitch dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Artist Kyle McDonald wanted to create something that captured people's expressions as they stared at computers. So the 25-year-old artist installed a program on computers in two New York Apple Store locations that would automatically take a photo every minute of whoever was standing in front of the computer. McDonald then uploaded the photos to his Tumblr blog, 'People Staring at Computers,' made a video with the photographs, and set up 'an exhibition' at the Apple stores to show what he had found. Within days, the Secret Service, which investigates computer crimes, had raided McDonald's house, seizing his two laptops, two flash drives and iPod."

5 of 376 comments (clear)

  1. Double standards by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Where were they when that school in Merion installed spycam software on all the pupil's laptops to record them in their dormrooms?

    --
    No sig today...
    1. Re:Double standards by qwertyatwork · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No I didn't read the article before posting. +1 slashdot points. The reason it was the secret service was probably due to jurisdiction. I had my house raided by the secret service in 1988 when I was phreaking calling cards. I had a lawyer tell me the reason it was the secret service was because the calling cards put it in their jurisdiction. I can't remember the exact reason, but something along the lines of calling cards are a promise of pay, or some other legal mumbo jumbo.

  2. Idiot artist by Lillebo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lol, just watched the video montage he did of the stunt. Some minutes into the video, after showing a couple of hundred faces, he ponders "Would people look different if I showed them how the computer sees them?" - or in other words "Would people react differently if I showed them I was taking pictures of them?"

    As predicted - most did. Next he says "Most just hit escape".

    Couldn't help but laugh at his naivety. Of course people would hit escape - they don't want their picture taken you twat!

  3. Re:They shouldn't have gone after him... by stewbacca · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Supreme Court disagrees with your AC opinion:

    “A privately owned shopping center that attracts large numbers of people to congregate in order to shop and take advantage of other amenities offered by the shopping center is the functional equivalent of the traditional town center, which historically is a public forum where persons can exercise the right to free speech. (Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center (1979) 23 Cal.3d 899, 910-911 & fn. 5 [153 Cal.Rptr. 854, 592 P.2d 341]”

    While the wording here applies to 1st amendment, it clearly states that a place that invites people to come and shop becomes public.

    Every time you hear a story about some shop owner who claims they own the place so you have to follow their rules, you should bait them into discriminating against you somehow then sue them out of business. Responsible business ownership should include the understand that you can't be a tyrant just because you own a business.

  4. Re:So... by PrimeNumber · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No you are missing the point. This has huge bearing on the actual problem. The real issue is that corporations & their paid puppets can do whatever they want. The rest of us have to pay taxes, follow the rules, and abide by the law - even if we think we have the I's dotted and T's crossed as this guy did, you still end up standing before the man. That, my cowardly friend, is the "actual problem".