People Staring at Computers from Kyle McDonald on Vimeo.
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a Brooklyn media artist who reportedly installed a custom app on computers in an Apple store that automatically took pictures of people staring at the screen and displayed the images on other computers.
A Secret Service spokesman would not comment Thursday, saying the investigation is ongoing.
On the artist’s website, Kyle McDonald describes the project as “People Staring at Computers 2011 A Photographic Intervention.” A video shows patrons in an Apple store gazing at a computer screen in which photographs of other faces pop up.
McDonald is in contact with the civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation. He says they encouraged him not to discuss the project while it’s under investigation.
An Apple spokesperson declined comment.
