Insecam

In 2006, I published a post titled Universe is Not User Friendly, dedicated to unprotected webcams and, in general, to all those who don't realize that the internet has rules of conduct and it's best to follow them to avoid getting into trouble. The post explains how to find and view unprotected webcams operating on the internet. Technically, you're not committing any crime because you're not forcing anything. Since the page isn't protected, you're simply accessing a site identified by an IP address, like any other.

Let me give you an example: everyone knows that my website is www.maurograziani.org and that my blog is at www.maurograziani.org/wordpress. Few people, however, know that my Conservatory class schedule is at www.maurograziani.org/I-won't-tell-you. Obviously, it's not such a private page. My class schedule is known at the Conservatory, and even if someone else sees it, it doesn't bother me. I don't publicize it simply because it's not of public interest, but if someone finds it, I don't worry. If I wanted to hide it, I'd password-protect the page.

It's the same with webcams and many other things on the internet: if they're freely visible, it means the owner isn't interested in keeping them secret. And if that happens because someone doesn't think about it or doesn't know, well, ignorance is no excuse. All it took was reading the manual.

Now someone has expanded on this idea and created a site that collects the addresses of thousands of unprotected webcams. It's the insecam project, where insecam obviously stands for insecure webcam. The whole thing is for "educational" purposes. It's meant to encourage owners to protect their webcams, and in any case, those deemed too invasive of other people's privacy haven't been listed.

But if you want to see some glimpses of life in the world, take a look (and if you have a webcam, check to see if it's there). The list is sorted geographically.

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