Secretly videotaping lab mates - (Apr/06/2007 )
I need some advice about something. My boss recently hired a post doc from another country. When he first arrived, he was so polite and courteous. I am the only graduate student in my PI's lab. In the next few months, everything was alright in the lab. But then in the subsequent weeks none of his experiments are working while I am making a slow but steady progress in my research. Suddenly, I would find that when I would set up an experiment, my things would be moved deliberately. This has happened so many times when it was just the two of us in the lab. A few months later, I would hear a beeping sound at exactly around the same time. I didn't think much about it until one day, while I was reaching for something in my shelf, I saw him holding a video camera (my bench is right behind his). I just figured he needed it for something else. A few weeks later, I accidentally walked in on him and I saw him looking at a video of me in the lab! I didn't confront him at that time because he can always deny it and it is going to be my word against somebody with a Ph.D. We also have some undergrads who come to the lab although not everyday. Even when they are there, I can hear the beeping sound so I know the video camera is on. I'm not sure if I should tell my PI but I don't want to cause trouble in the lab or in my department. The only way I can get proof is to videotape him too but I feel that would be really very intrusive. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thank you.
I suggest that you tell your professor about this and tell him/her that you will inform him/her when you discover that the taping is on and you two can get the evidence together. You/the university can get the finger print as evidence, so be careful about that camera so not to touch with your hand.
He is up to no good and your PI must know this a.s.a.p. This guy is violating your rights (you have a right to say no when someone want to take your picture or video for that matter) as well as the agreements he had with your institution. In most institutions/companies there are areas where cameras are prohibited. If one needs to take a picture there are labs specialising in that and are guided by rules of such institution.
Although I think he suspects that someone is massing up his experiements but he should take such suspicions to his boss even if he gave solid evedence with his camera/video that won't be acceptable as i believe that it is against good laboratory practice.
If you two are both using the same techniques, it could be that he's taping you to see if you're doing something he's not doing (but needs to do in order to get his experiments to work). A similar thing was happening to me about a year ago, finally I sat next to the PI (with her permission) and watched her do the experiment, then found the missing step.
Hopefully this is some kind of cultural misunderstanding, but then again there's a lot of weird people out there.
Regardless, videotaping anybody without their knowledge and consent is wrong, it's possibly sexual harassment (I don't know the genders of the parties involved) and you need to tell your PI, immediately.
I would not make a bad atmosphere in the lab by telling your PI.
Why don't you take a coffee break with the post-doc and ask him what he is doing. Tell him that you feel embarassed and he is not allowed to tape or take a picture whitout asking. try to discuss with him first. As you said, he is from a foreign country, and maybe he doesn't have the feeling that he is doing something bad.
and about sexual harassment: come on, he (or she) is not recording someone in the toilet or in the changing-room !
Missele has a good idea, and l agree that confronting the postdoc may be a better first step here, but be prepared for denials on his part.
By the way, Missele, I only said this is possibly harassment, which is all I could say given the amount of info given. In the U.S., stalking behavior (such as secretly videotaping somebody in any situation) is usually considered harassment and can get you fired.
So, are there any more developments in the story, Bukasski?
Just wondering...
1. What country this post-doc from?
2. May be this post-doc love you 
and are not brave enough to tell you?
I think you may wish to talk to him about videotaping you...and ask him/her the reason behind it...before talking to your boss.
Thank you for the advice. It is nice to get different perspectives from different people. I don't want to cause trouble in the lab so I will confront him first and ask him to stop. If he does not, though, it will be harder for me to prove that he is videotaping people because now he knows that I know and because I don't have that three letters attached to my name name (Ph.D.), I am certainly putting my graduate career in jeopardy if I make accusations that I cannot prove. Anyway, wish me luck!
Good luck, bukasski!
If you do decide to go to your PI, I should hope that he/she has enough trust in you that you wouldn't need 'hard evidence' about this person's behavior. If a grad student came to me with this problem, I'd tend to believe them. If for no other reason than 'how would anyone make stuff like this up?'
Keep us posted, I'll be curious as to how things get handled.