CISS Affiliates Coduto and Sibley Discuss the Debate Sparked By A Bystander-Captured Video of a Private Moment along the Charles River
A recent viral video captured along the Charles River is raising questions about just how much privacy we are all entitled to in our hyper-digital world.
The 16-second video goes like this: a man on one knee looks up at a woman on a gray afternoon along Memorial Drive in Cambridge. The Charles River, its banks lush, glints in the background. The woman, smiling, grabs his face for a kiss. The camera zooms in, until she helps him to his feet, still smiling, before the video cuts off.
The cute outdoor proposal was captured in late June by a driver stopped at a red light. She sent the video to the popular @OnlyInBos Instagram account, where it took off. The Boston Globe picked up the story, calling the moment a real-life Taylor Swift song.
BU Today tapped three experts to get their take on how privacy works when everyone has a camera and a social media account: Kathryn Coduto (CISS Affiliate), a College of Communication assistant professor of media science; Jessica R. Silbey (CISS Affiliate), a School of Law professor of law and the Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law; and Woodrow Hartzog, a LAW professor of law.
To read more, visit BU Today where this article originally appeared on July 9, 2025.