![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[Error: unknown template qotd]Well, yes, of course- they're people like the rest of us. They need downtime, too.
Being 'famous' in whatever capacity that might be is not permission to be stalked, harassed, spied upon, wiretapped, chased, or photographed constantly. Yes, the public sidewalks are public, and anyone outside is fair game for someone with a telephoto lens, but homes and certain events are not.
I was made aware of how fragile and precious privacy was when part of my job was to enroach upon it in a 'previous' life. Part of my job required me to test and monitor voice-level phone lines for signal quality and proper use. And yes, I eavesdropped on some very intimate conversations. I intercepted intimate electronic messages, too. And I saw photographs taken with surveillence gear that would have outraged anyone who knew it existed. That was in the 80s. Things are even more sophisticated today.
Privacy is precious. We all need that downtime- whether we are famous or not. We need to have at least the illusion of privacy. But in reality, it truly is an illusion today. I assume that I am being photographed, miked, and observed pretty much everywhere I go by surveillence equipment, my Internet connection, my telephone connection and public (and private) video cameras everywhere I am- including my own home.
This saddens me- the only truly 'private' place is inside my mind.
Being 'famous' in whatever capacity that might be is not permission to be stalked, harassed, spied upon, wiretapped, chased, or photographed constantly. Yes, the public sidewalks are public, and anyone outside is fair game for someone with a telephoto lens, but homes and certain events are not.
I was made aware of how fragile and precious privacy was when part of my job was to enroach upon it in a 'previous' life. Part of my job required me to test and monitor voice-level phone lines for signal quality and proper use. And yes, I eavesdropped on some very intimate conversations. I intercepted intimate electronic messages, too. And I saw photographs taken with surveillence gear that would have outraged anyone who knew it existed. That was in the 80s. Things are even more sophisticated today.
Privacy is precious. We all need that downtime- whether we are famous or not. We need to have at least the illusion of privacy. But in reality, it truly is an illusion today. I assume that I am being photographed, miked, and observed pretty much everywhere I go by surveillence equipment, my Internet connection, my telephone connection and public (and private) video cameras everywhere I am- including my own home.
This saddens me- the only truly 'private' place is inside my mind.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I am very good friends with a woman who is an assistant to a fairly well known actor. I am not going to mention him by name because I respect he and his privacy enough not to do so. This particular actor is absolutely adamant about his integrity and the types of roles he will accept. However his tastes tend to run toward very buxom and decidedly very young women (barely legal and never older than 30). One of these women, who is all of these things and unapologetically self-absorbed, thinks nothing of bragging up the relationship on both Facebook and Twitter to all and sundry who tune in. The man is understandably furious, in spite of the fact that they are no longer together, she still lies continually about the association and that it is still going on. And of course, my friend who is his assistant is, too, and I completely empathise. She hates having to listen to him be so upset, but who can blame him?
It's this type of crap that makes celebrities become fearful, as this man has become, of their fans. It's very sad.