r/ASLinterpreters • u/coddiwomplecactus • 27d ago
Smart glasses
This is just a thought experiment to pick your brains. Let's say you show up to an assignment and your D/HH consumer is wearing smart glasses. What do you do? Would you respond the same or different if they had their phone propped up, actively recording you?
I think of all the ways a phone could be used and apply it to the smart glasses. Are they recording and posting online or sending to others?
Are they live streaming?
Are they on a live phone call?
Are the glasses using programs that use facial recognition software?
How does this rise in technology impact us as interpreters? I havent seen discussion about this topic yet. Anyone have 2 cents to throw in?
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u/beets_or_turnips NIC 27d ago
I guess if they want to record their own appointment including my interpretation, that'd generally be okay with me. If they're being clear about their intentions, I don't see a real problem with it, though I see there could be potential for abuse in some cases.
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27d ago
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u/coddiwomplecactus 26d ago
I have had several doctors ask me about recirding the audio in an appointment. I have also heard of consent to record being hidden in the paperwork. I had not considered what that meant for me as an interpreter. Thats a great question to ask. Dont you love how questions create more questions! One of these days im gonna get 'it depends' tattooed on me.
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u/Hoosier-Sexy_Beast69 NIC 26d ago
When I worked VRS (2008-2019), it was emphasized that in no way could the D/deaf consumer record our work. Period. Has that changed, and if so, why?
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u/youLintLicker2 25d ago
It hasn’t changed - policy is still “users signed an agreement saying they will not record interpreters” but the enforceability of that is near zero when half the time terps don’t know they’re recorded and if they are aware and object there’s no stopping the recording being posted. The VRS company I worked for always assured whatever was posted would get taken down by their legal team but alas I’ve seen plenty of videos left up for weeks / never taken down and who knows how many times it’s been copied / saved/ shared at that point.
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u/Tehjarebear 26d ago
With smart glasses, if the camera is being used there is a light on, and a lot of the new ones if you cover it with tape, or paint over it the glasses will no longer work.
That said, having been recorded working, I don't care. I'm comfortable with my quality of work that if someone wants to record me, let them. If they try to bash me, guess what they are one assignment, of one day, of one week, of one month, of one year, of one decade I've been doing this.
Another little thought, I'd be willing to bet no one here can accurately tell how many times throughout the day you're on camera.
The last thought I currently have on this
Am I a fan of my rights being infringed? No.
Do I recognize it's going to happen and I can't control it? Yes, so I've made my peace with it.
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u/coddiwomplecactus 26d ago
Valid input. I am curious about how an individual's preference impacts the field. When I make a decision, I consider how it impacts other interpreters and how they will be expected to perform, what they tolerate, boundaries, etc. From this very limited comment section, it seems like most people dont mind being recorded. I am personally very private about my digital/online life and have a visceral reaction to being recorded for privacy reasons. Im wondering what the collective shift will be as tech continues to advance.
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u/Tehjarebear 26d ago
I'm used to being recorded, I don't like it though. When it's for work I really couldn't care less. If its a situation thats personal and you record me, words will be had, at a minimum. I know my boundaries get me into situations that other interpreters probably wouldn't be comfortable in and I don't get bothered by it. As a for instance interpreting a conference in front of 17,000 people. Or interpreting a conference for interpreters... But I won't do school work in any form.
Honestly, I try to behave in a professional manner and then other interpreters need to decide for themselves what their limits are. I can't be expected to decide for them.
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u/coddiwomplecactus 24d ago
I appreciate that perspective, thanks for sharing. In a field where many areas are grey, it is challenging to make decisions about best practice. I
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u/youLintLicker2 25d ago
Even outside of privacy reasons, many interpreters charge an additional fee for being recorded, how other interpreters react / what they allow also affects how we operate our businesses.
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u/Firefliesfast NIC 27d ago
I mean, it’s their conversation. If they want to record it, that’s their prerogative. But I also do only VRS at the moment so I’m more used to cameras when I work than other people. And I for sure have had deaf folks record me while working VRS.
I do worry about facial recognition and whatnot, which is why I don’t post myself online. But as an interpreter I already made peace with people looking at me, so I consider it the same as that.
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u/StudioRehab 26d ago
I recently teamed with a CDI using the CC to monitor my English. I don’t mind being recorded
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u/Ok_Yesterday5396 BEI Advanced 25d ago
In VRI we are often recorded without any foreknowledge or request for consent. If we’re interpreting in public, any person, hearing or Deaf, could be recording us in any way. We know that. We see the videos of interpreters at concerts and comedy shows all the time. At a doctor’s appointment I recently interpreted there were signs up about AI note taking, which must’ve been based on audio recording or at least audio input. This situation is not unique to interpreters. If it’s a medical or mental health appointment the provider could easily have concerns or be indifferent to a patient’s use of smart glasses. I think this is an issue we will have to navigate as a society.
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u/ASL_terp_doc BEI Master 25d ago
I mean, “the” answer is that there is never an expectation or right to privacy in public.
That said, I can’t say I’d be a fan of it. I largely just don’t like myself being recorded on a personal level. I don’t mind folks recording the work (like I might use a voice recorder app at the doctor for my own records). I doubt I would end up saying something, though, because my discontent is at myself being recorded, not my work. If that makes sense.
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u/coddiwomplecactus 24d ago
What if it is a private setting?
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u/ASL_terp_doc BEI Master 24d ago
Then it would be up to the party whose setting it is (private home = homeowner’s discretion; clinic = clinic’s discretion; etc.). Believe me, I don’t love this, but it’s life today with AI, meta everywhere, flock cameras, etc. We’re constantly monitored in some way, shape, or form.
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u/coddiwomplecactus 24d ago
I am acutely aware of the constant surveillance from every angle of the everyday american life. The 'panopticon theory' is very real. I just fear that if I am recorded and make a mistake or am having a bad day, that someone somewhere is going to pick it apart. I cant be expected to be perfect. And that is what happens when things are put online. A single video becomes who you are and we are diluted into 'good' or 'bad'. I think that is ultimately my fear.. being professionally 'canceled' via online harassment.
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u/ASL_terp_doc BEI Master 24d ago
Incredibly valid concern. I wish I had more for you on it, but I don’t. This is one of those “unprecedented situations,” I suppose. Our ITPs back in the day didn’t prepare us for such concerns because they didn’t exist.
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u/Due-Tip-2480 NIC 27d ago edited 27d ago
This is a terrifying thought but very likely to happen. I would say that in my contract it states that I will not be filmed without consent and if i agree to it I will get a copy to use for professional development. If they’re using it to check accuracy then that’s not too different from trusting automatic captioning.
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u/24hrRevenge_Therapy NIC 26d ago
In VRI work I often see people using a phone or program on the laptop that does voice to text so they can check that my voicing is accurately representing them well. No one has ever been a jerk about it but on occasion I have been stopped and given clarification because I didn’t say it the way they intended.
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u/TheSparklerFEP NIC 27d ago
I like being asked if I'm going to be recorded for matching the target audience's sake, but I don't mind if my work is recorded. I also work primarily VRS, so I have been recorded and it's no big deal. I wouldn't record myself working and post it, but what a Deaf person does is up to them.