Why hello there, Mr. Shutter Fly:
I have to you, of your camera, I am shy.
Your point and shoot--snap, click, click,
Is oddly scary to this chick.
Please, oh please, respect my fright,
To protect my image, it is my right.
Do not tag or tweet, share or post
On your wall, or use to boast,
My face or image in anyway
Without written permission or my say.
Old-fashioned it may seem to you to be,
Manners still have a place in the 21st century.
Stop to think about these things, please,
Before I confront you with legalese.
For silly as it may seem to you,
Asking first is the thing to do.
And if I do say no to you,
('cause within my right it is to sue),
I hope you still will respect me, please.
Do not call me names, or "gently" tease.
Do not offer to blur or crop.
Do me a favor; don’t take the shot.
Take your camera lens and zoom,
Away from me -- into the next room.
For of your camera, I am shy.
Those pictures of me? They make me cry.
Your point and shoot--snap, click, click,
Is oddly scary to this chick.
Please, oh please, respect my fright,
To protect my image, it is my right.
Do not tag or tweet, share or post
On your wall, or use to boast,
My face or image in anyway
Without written permission or my say.
Old-fashioned it may seem to you to be,
Manners still have a place in the 21st century.
Stop to think about these things, please,
Before I confront you with legalese.
For silly as it may seem to you,
Asking first is the thing to do.
And if I do say no to you,
('cause within my right it is to sue),
I hope you still will respect me, please.
Do not call me names, or "gently" tease.
Do not offer to blur or crop.
Do me a favor; don’t take the shot.
Take your camera lens and zoom,
Away from me -- into the next room.
For of your camera, I am shy.
Those pictures of me? They make me cry.
My oh, so sad attempts at poetry are not a sudden embrace of a new writing style for the blog. I don't know why I decided to process a recent incident in this manner. Some of the rhymes got stuck in my brain and this started to come out.
It was written in response to a photo of me, now removed, on Twitter that I found after dining in an establishment with a group of colleagues. I contacted the proprietor and they took it down. If they had asked first, I still wouldn't have agreed to be in the picture, or for it to be posted. Even if they hadn't shown my face. I let a few of my colleagues know what had happened, and they too didn't want to be photographed and were glad I pushed the issue.
It used to be that right to personal privacy was a given. Now you are looked at oddly when you insist upon it.
Lest you think this is a case of the "pot/kettle/black," if I post pictures of people on this blog/other social outlets, I do try and get some permission first, and/or use the handle/pseudonym/moniker of their choosing. I know that some of my friends are annoyed at how often they appear on the blog, for example. With the nieces and nephews, I do need to check in with their parents more, esp. as they are getting older and can have more of a say on how often they appear here.
I do find the irony in me complaining about privacy when I am a database content person/fund raiser and I'm in and out of people's personal data all day. HOWEVER, I do not disseminate that data, nor do I sell it. There are privacy laws in effect - on the institutional, state, and federal level regarding staff, students, and donors that will not, and should not, be breached. Because some of the students are minors, privacy rules are even more strictly enforced. However, we are more and more having to teach them about personal privacy boundaries, as they use the Internet and social media outlets to contact friends and family around the world.
Sadly, stalking, cyber-stalking, identity theft, and other violent crimes are a reality today, and have hit closer to home than one likes to admit. There has been, and continues to be, an erosion in basic civility. Unfortunately, the laws that protect your personal and online right to privacy have not caught up with the ever changing cyber situation.
No one else is going to stand up for you like you. Vigilance doesn't have to be debilitating. You just have to be aware and protect your own right to privacy.
That being said. If I've posted a picture of you here, without your permission, I do apologize and will retroactively move to remove/replace/change the identifier to protect your privacy.
It used to be that right to personal privacy was a given. Now you are looked at oddly when you insist upon it.
Lest you think this is a case of the "pot/kettle/black," if I post pictures of people on this blog/other social outlets, I do try and get some permission first, and/or use the handle/pseudonym/moniker of their choosing. I know that some of my friends are annoyed at how often they appear on the blog, for example. With the nieces and nephews, I do need to check in with their parents more, esp. as they are getting older and can have more of a say on how often they appear here.
I do find the irony in me complaining about privacy when I am a database content person/fund raiser and I'm in and out of people's personal data all day. HOWEVER, I do not disseminate that data, nor do I sell it. There are privacy laws in effect - on the institutional, state, and federal level regarding staff, students, and donors that will not, and should not, be breached. Because some of the students are minors, privacy rules are even more strictly enforced. However, we are more and more having to teach them about personal privacy boundaries, as they use the Internet and social media outlets to contact friends and family around the world.
Sadly, stalking, cyber-stalking, identity theft, and other violent crimes are a reality today, and have hit closer to home than one likes to admit. There has been, and continues to be, an erosion in basic civility. Unfortunately, the laws that protect your personal and online right to privacy have not caught up with the ever changing cyber situation.
No one else is going to stand up for you like you. Vigilance doesn't have to be debilitating. You just have to be aware and protect your own right to privacy.
That being said. If I've posted a picture of you here, without your permission, I do apologize and will retroactively move to remove/replace/change the identifier to protect your privacy.
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