ed Police and privacy

Filming protesters raises ‘Big Brother’ specter

It is no secret that police usually take pictures or video-shots of demonstrators to identify illegal protesters. Now, such practice is raising concerns about infringing privacy.

Recent data show that police photographed 23,698 street protesters between January 2005 and August 2010. Considering the fact that demonstrations have become the order of the day in South Korea, the figure was only part of a much larger number of demonstrators photographed by police. In fact, the figure itself is not that important. What really matters is whether picture-taking and video-recording are legitimate or not.

Koreans enjoy the constitutional guarantee of privacy, including the right of likeness. This right allows people to reject being photographed or videotaped by others. Of course, police and prosecutors are able to take pictures of or film anyone without his or her consent. But their work should be conducted in a strictly limited way for the sake of law enforcement.

It is worth noting a 1999 Supreme Court decision to restrict the scope of photo-taking and videotaping. The ruling allows investigators to take shots of people without court-issued warrants in case there is an urgent need to preserve evidence. In this regard, we have to call into question the legitimacy of the indiscriminate photo-taking practice during street rallies.

Critics argue that it is illegal to take shots of demonstrators, noting that such practice should be done in accordance with proper procedures in exceptionally limited cases to avoid or minimize civil rights violation. For this reason, police should be allowed to photograph or film only those who are implicated in illegal or violent demonstrations.

It goes without saying that the purpose of the practice is to sort out law-breaking protesters and bring them to justice. Therefore, it is unnecessary to photograph or film peaceful demonstrators obeying the rules. It is irresponsible for police to claim that they have to take shots of all participants in any rally only because peaceful demonstrations have the potential to turn violent.

What’s more serious is that police have set up and operated a controversial database to identify and summon demonstrators who were photographed. The NPA refuses to admit the existence of the database in a bid to deflect criticism for systematically storing and managing the profiles of tens of thousands of demonstrators regardless of their criminal records.

The photographic practice and the use of the database are feared to damage freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, not to mention potential infringement of privacy. Now it’s time for police to stop the practice and do more to respect people’s civil rights. No one wants the specter of “Big Brother” to haunt Korean society.