Fiona MacLeod on the police pilot testing cameras across the network and the strange experience of watching yourself be watched
Police are testing facial recognition cameras on the London Underground as part of a new pilot programme, and having spent an entire commute this week deliberately trying to notice the cameras I usually ignore completely, I genuinely couldn’t settle on how I felt about the whole thing by the time I reached my stop.
Why I Actually Decided To Pay Attention To This Rather Than Simply Scrolling Past The Story
Because I use this network constantly, several times a day, and it felt genuinely important to actually understand what I was walking past rather than filing it under vague background unease like most infrastructure news.
What The Experience Of Consciously Noticing These Cameras Actually Felt Like
Oddly self-conscious, in a way I don’t usually feel navigating a station I’ve used for years, suddenly aware of my own face in a space I’d previously considered entirely anonymous.
How I Actually Weighed The Genuine Safety Arguments Against My Own Discomfort
With real difficulty, honestly, recognising the legitimate case for using this technology to catch genuinely dangerous individuals while simultaneously feeling uneasy about the broader precedent of routine facial scanning becoming normalised.
Whether This Pilot Has Actually Changed Any Of My Daily Commuting Behaviour
Not practically, no, since avoiding the Underground entirely isn’t remotely realistic for someone in my position, though it has changed how consciously I now think about it.
What This Whole Experience Revealed About How Quietly Significant Infrastructure Changes Can Slip Past Us Without Proper Individual Reflection
Mostly that it’s worth actually sitting with stories like this rather than scrolling past them, even when, especially when, there’s genuinely no simple answer waiting at the end of the thinking. More London civic reflections continue at bohiney.com.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
