Lens in the Heat

“Lens in the Heat”

– Austin American Statesman (A1), 9-22-13 

 

 

2.     Category: Politics

3.     Level: Local, State, and National

4.     This article involves a potential policy that is being considered to help an issue that firefighters as well as families and individuals are facing

5.     This issue is important to families and individuals because it could ultimately protect their privacy of unknown videos leaking to the internet. Additionally, it could help fire departments from getting into a ton of trouble legally.

6.     Video cameras are everywhere. They are in every department store we walk through, they are on the streets we drive every day, and they are on the dashboard of the patrol car we were just pulled over by for exceeding the speed limit. So wouldn’t it be normal for the firefighter to have a camera while he is rescuing a victim from their burning house? In my personal opinion, no. Nationwide, quite a few firefighters have personally paid for small High-Definition cameras in order to capture their exciting and memorable adventures. Currently, Austin American Statesman and KVUE-TV are investigating the debate on whether this is ethically ok or not. Some firefighters are using it strictly for personal memorabilia, while others are using it for training purposes. However, I side with the founder of Patient Privacy Rights, it is an invasion of one’s privacy. This footage that is extremely capable of being displayed on YouTube and other social media pages should not be used for reality TV. If I were to ever fall victim to a house fire or any other devastating tragedy, I would not want anyone to be able to watch it for their entertainment. Additionally, I definitely would not want to accidentally stumble upon the footage and have to relive the same awful experience all over again. I could agree with the use of the cameras on one condition though: if a policy were put into place protecting the citizen’s privacy. Ideally, this policy would require the firefighters to turn in the camera at the end of their shift, just as patrol officer is required to do. I feel like if these departments were to allow the cameras, it should belong to the fire department and only be used for training or governmental purposes.