Images from my peepshow

Open Society Paradox

With the world being overwhelmed by the amount of vulnerability to surveillance and some peoples' desire to exploit themselves or others for personal, public, and even monetary pleasure, I was reminded of a situation that occurred 2 1/2 years ago. A friend and I were looking for an apartment for the summer and we came upon this place that seemed affordable and decent even though the landlord/manager seemed a bit creepy. He must have figured by our faces that the prices he was asking for mediocre studios wasn't pleasing us so he offered us this deal: if we took a particular studio he would knock off a portion of the rent. Okay, fair. But of course it sounded too good to be true. These particular studios had cameras set up in every room, even the bathroom. By signing a lease to these studios we would be agreeing to let anyone who had access to the cameras 24/7 surveillance of our lives. A 24/7 peepshow! We were reassured, however, that we could turn off the cameras whenever we needed privacy, say to use the bathroom or shower, otherwise they were to remain on. Needless to say, we continued looking for apartments elsewhere!