Stealth Podcasting



I'm listening to The Catholic Insider podcast. Father Roderick is talking about the conclave to elect the Pope (yes, I'm a bit behind, I know). What is funny, though, is that he tried to get into St. Peter's Square with his minidisk and microphone and was stopped by a security guard who asked what he was planning to do with the equipment. He told the guard that he was doing a radio show, and the guard would not let him pass without getting press accreditation. So, Father Roderick walked to the other side of the square after putting the minidisk and microphone out of sight in his pocket, and "solved it the Italian way" by entering the square in a different location.

When he got into the square, he pulled out the equipment and set it up. He also used a trick invented by Adam Curry, another podcaster: pulled out his cell phone and pretended to be talking on it while recording his comments. That way, he didn't look weird as if talking to himself.

Speaking of Adam Curry, on one of his recent podcasts, he engaged several people in conversation in a New York hotel and recorded the results as part of his podcast. He did not warn his "victims" that they were being recorded. Evidently a few of his listeners responded, chastising him for this oversight. Adam admits that it probably would be better to inform people that they are being recorded and maybe even get their permission to use the conversation before podcasting it.

The point here: just as you cannot always know whether there are cameras recording your actions, you cannot always know whether there are hidden microphones recording your conversations. Both hidden cameras and microphones are probably already ubiquitous.

So: be careful what you do, be careful what you say in public. Big Brother is watching, and listening.

Posted: Thu - April 21, 2005 at 04:59 PM        

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