My family has learned that when they travel with me I see messages about privacy (and usability) everywhere and must get out my camera or phone to document what I see. Those who have taken my classes know that I can’t get through a lecture without a photo of a road sign or awkward hotel bathroom. On a recent trip to New York City with my husband and youngest daughter, I was quite pleased to find a large number of billboards appealing to the desire for more privacy along with some surveillance and warning signs.
VPNs and private browsers advertise everywhere now, including billboards on NYC buildings. This one emphasizes keeping thoughts private and preventing search engines from selling your information. I had never actually heard of this one despite my keen interest in these sorts of things, so I guess they finally found an effective way to reach me! It’s tough when your target audience uses ad blockers.
Apple is a more well-known company that has been trying to emphasize the privacy-related aspects of its products for a while. My students and I have a paper at the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium this summer that includes an analysis of an Apple privacy video ad. I’m not entirely sure why there’s also an AT&T logo on the ad, but maybe because they sell the phone.
Later, on the same billboard was a privacy add from WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta.
I saw WhatsApp privacy billboards all over the city.
Of course, I also found messages about surveillance. Here’s a store that will help you spy on your loved ones.
And here’s a reminder that there are surveillance cameras in subway stations (and everywhere else in NYC).
Speaking of the subway…. Subway cars are a great place to find interesting warnings. I get a lot of funny looks when I photograph them on a crowded train, but that doesn’t stop me.
Walking between cars on a moving NYC subway train is actually a super dangerous thing to do and based on a quick glance at news reports it seems that someone dies doing this every couple of months. Apparently there is a disturbing trend of teens taking it a step further and climbing on the roof of moving subway cars to “subway surf” and the MTA has a whole campaign aimed at nipping that in the bud (which I saw briefly and then forgot to photograph). Anyway, I did photograph these two signs that take slightly different approach to convey the same message about not riding between cars. The first one illustrates with a pictogram what the danger is, while the other has a big red circle with a slash and informs you the practice is prohibited.
