Apple Sics Secret Service on Spycam Artist

A New York artist who installed photo-taking software on computers at two Apple stores had his computers seized by the Secret Service as part of a computer fraud investigation, reports Mashable. Over three days in June, Kyle McDonald installed software on 100 computers at the two New York stores so they would automatically take a picture with the computer's built-in camera every minute, and send the snap to him. He then uploaded the photos to a Tumblr blog.

"We have this expression on our face [when we use computers] that basically says that we're not interacting with anybody, we're interacting with the machine," McDonald explains. He says he got permission to take photos in the store from store security guards before beginning, and will remove anyone's image if he gets a complaint. The artist doesn't think he broke any laws—and he hasn't been charged with anything so far—but with his computers seized, he is going to have to buy new equipment: So "hopefully they let me into the Apple Store," he says. (More Apple stories.)