I hope this is the correct forum. I read a book a few years ago (late 80’s early 90’s I think) and one of the premises in the book was that video cameras were everywhere.
I think the protagonists were young adults, because I think I remember a scene where they are complaining about when they get near adults, the adults all focus their attention on them to make sure they are recorded.
I think one of the kids was an expert at writing gophers that would be able to sift through all that recorded data and find information.
I know it’s not much to go on, but I wanted to reread that story and compare it to how today is with video phones practically everywhere.
This makes me think of David Brin’s Earth. In that future, retirees use video cameras and web access to act as a kind of neighborhood watch, and the younger characters tended to resent it. The book is from the early 90s.
""Watching, all the time watching… goggle-eye geeks…
What brought on Crat’s sudden outburst was the sight of yet another babushka, glaring at them from a bench under one of the force-grown shade trees… The very moment they came into view, the old woman laid here wire-knitting aside and fixed them with the bug-eyed, opaque gape of her True-Vu lenses…
“No joke, bloke,” Roland replied. “Some of those new goggles’ve got sniffer sensors on 'em…”
The stare got worse as they approached. Remi couldn’t see the babushka’s eyes, of course. Her True-Vu’s burnished lenses didn’t really have to be aimed directly at them to get a good record. Still, she jutted out her chin and faced them square on, aggressively making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted to their home unit, blocks from here, in real time."
Here’s something that may help you remember if Earth is the novel:
At the end, was a planetary consciousness born because of a war between superpowers trying to control a microscopic black hole?
If the answer is “Yes”, then Earth is your book. If the answer is “No”, than it is not your book. If the answer is “I don’t recall”… well, I don’t understand how one can forget that crazed-ass ending but remember that some kids didn’t like being snooped on, but that’s humanity for ya.
ETA: Apropros of nothing, I once pitted a science fiction discussion group I once lead because of how they approached this book. And all books, but it was the Earth discussion that caused me to reach my breaking point.
I’ll check it out, thank you!