Although cultures in isolated regions of the world used to believe cameras could steal a piece of their souls and cause them harm, Westerners do not share this concern. One reason Westerners may not believe this is because in their world cameras are so omnipresent that we would be left with no soul at all.

Here in Madison, the Downtown Hospitality Council recently proposed putting cameras in all the bars in Madison, raising public concern over a potential invasion of privacy. Although this proposal has sparked an uproar, it is merely the most recent attempt by Madison authorities to get cameras into bars any way they can. This ongoing battle has been waged for years, and the only reason it continues is due to the public protest over privacy that the issue sparks each time.

Surveillance in Madison bars has been attempted from nearly every possible angle but has never been successfully approved. Madison authorities even attempted to push the proposal through immediately following Sept. 11, when everyone was excited to find out how many civil liberties it cost for a ticket aboard the “Save me, Big Brother” bandwagon. If the proposal was unable to succeed then, it seems fairly unlikely it will now.

Despite privacy concerns, many cities are turning to increasingly cheap surveillance as a solution. Although London is the head of another powerful democracy, it has more security cameras than any other city in the world, filming the average person more than 300 times per day. Chicago also has an extensive surveillance network on city streets, and it is not uncommon to notice a blinking blue eye over your shoulder at corners. Even in our own state, Milwaukee boasts a web of security cameras, but, as a proud bastion of Wisconsin‘s drinking culture, has been slow to adopt cameras in bars.

Even in Milwaukee, however, legislation passed just last fall would allow police to force bars to install cameras. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, police already had the power to order retail establishments to install cameras if three or more crimes occurred within a year, and this power was extended to Milwaukee‘s bars as well. If police were to order a bar to install security cameras, the bar owners would have to foot the bill and make sure cameras provided a view of the interior, the parking lot and the street.

Milwaukee‘s approach to the problem seems to be much more thought-out and less intrusive than the approach proposed in Madison. The arguments used most frequently in Madison are cameras would increase public safety or decrease underage drinking, but the latter is not necessarily true. The Ram Head Rathskeller is one of the few bars in Madison which already has cameras installed, but the Madison Police Department can still find unlucky students to give underage drinking tickets to from time to time. The Ram Head also serves as a positive example, however, because despite cameras on the premises, plenty of patrons are still attracted to the bar anyway.

What turns the public of Madison off most to proposals of security cameras in bars seems to be the hostility of the proposal. Although the proposal may seem benign to lawmakers, it seems the public worries it will be a blanket approach that will apply to every bar uniformly, even ones with no history of crimes or violence. In contrast, the Milwaukee approach seems to have an effective system in place that will constitute no additional expense to taxpayers and will be in the interest of public safety. Even if Madison lawmakers choose different criteria to put up cameras, they should still be installed to protect against a perceived threat, otherwise the public will merely see it as an unnecessary invasion of privacy.

With cameras only getting cheaper and smaller, the all-seeing eye may become an intimate friend. Considering a bill was recently put before Congress requiring any camera phone to make a noise — which cannot be turned off — each time it takes a picture, it is clear cameras are already everywhere, and they’re watching us. On the positive side, if the Madison surveillance proposal succeeds, bar patrons will have the consolation that if the camera adds 10 pounds, beer goggles will become a thing of the past.

Casey Skeens ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in French.