February 6, 2013
This story made the front page of the Arkansas Traveller yesterday and the TV news blew it up even bigger last night.
University of Arkansas police are looking for whoever is posting pictures of students without them knowing on a Twitter handle impersonating the school’s exercise center.
The handle, @HPERprobsUARK, takes photographs of students at the HPER building, the university’s recreation center, without the students knowing about it. Included on the Twitter page are pictures of students in the center’s locker room and exercise rooms.
Police are following leads, but do not yet know who took the pictures or started the Twitter account, according to the University of Arkansas Police Department. Whoever is behind the secret Twitter account may face felony charges of voyeurism.
Staff at the exercise center said they could not comment on the situation or the impending investigation.
The Twitter handle acknowledged the police’s investigation Tuesday, Tweeting that they believe taking pictures of students in a public place, even if they do not know about it, is legal. The handle also said the main issue is images on the Twitter account that show students in the center’s locker room.
“The two that were posted early on of men in the locker room. The issue is that photos should not be taken where privacy is (expected),” the handle states. “The other pics of people about the HPER and campus are completely legal because they’re in a public space. Only video is ill.”
Here's the link to the actual Twitter account in question.
As of this morning, the person behind the account changed their profile pic. The old pic showed someone half naked, standing at a urinal inside the HPER locker room.
We've been trying to set up an interview with the person behind the @HPERprobsUARK account. Obviously, they are a little sheepish at the moment. We've been told that the UAPD spoke with them a few weeks ago about the situation. Also, the pictures that were freaking everyone out have been removed.
Seems like this person is back in line with making sure they aren't crossing the line.
Still though.
Are you a U of A student? Does this freak you out? Will all this attention cause this account to go away? Will you continue to use the HPER gym or does the possibility of being talked about on Twitter scare you off?