Frequently Asked Questions

What are you doing?

We're trying to create an accurate inventory of all the surveillance cameras in downtown Minneapolis that record people in public spaces.

Why are you doing that?

Both sides of the public surveillance camera debate can benefit from access to good, accurate data. Individual citizens might want to use the data to select a less-watched route to and from work. Business owners might want to use the data to lobby city council to add more cameras in under-represented areas. Whatever use this data eventually finds, we just want to gather and present it.

Who owns the data?

The act of submitting camera reports includes assigning copyright of that data to the Minneapolis Surveillance Camera Project. That data is made available to everyone under a very liberal Creative Commons license.

How can I help?

Anyone and everyone is welcome to help by reporting cameras. If you have a digital camera we're trying to get low resolution photos of all the cameras and you could track them down from the map and upload photos of them. You might also want to consider joining the mailing list.

I think I've found an error on your map?

It's certainly possible. We rely on volunteer reporters and even though every entry is sanity checked, most aren't physically verified by the project. Please let us know, and we'll try to fix it up.

Don't you know security cameras steal our privacy?

Don't you know cameras make us more safe?

Sorry, that's just out of scope for this project. While everyone involved in this project feels strongly one way or another about security cameras, we decided we could be most effective at data gathering by working together and trying to report without position. Feel free to use our data to bolster your cause.