Ubiquitous Intelligent Cameras—Between Legal Nightmare and Social Empowerment

We discuss key questions that need to be answered to enable a socially acceptable use of body-worn intelligent camera devices (Smart Cams). The BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) funded Project ChaRiSma (2015–2017) assessed Chances and Risks of Smart cameras in public Spaces. In this essay, we provide an overview of ChaRiSma's findings, outlining social, legal, and ethical perspectives. We furthermore address design issues, such as efficient status indicators, as well as technical perspectives and visions. it is noted that the use cases and examples outlined already demonstrate today's cameras are more than devices to take photographs, they are also sensors sampling continuously at around 30–120 Hz (where one FPS (frame-per- second) equals one Hz (Hertz)). They can make use of visual features in the environment for object tracking, environment mapping or camera localization, as demonstrated by sophisticated algorithms, such as Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. On the other hand, prior research on smart camera devices, particularly "always-on" devices, has also shown that not only malevolent usage but also simply human forgetfulness can result into significant violations of privacy.