Omroep Brabant reports that the man speaks English better than Dutch and that he has thirteen thousand followers on TikTok. The women were not aware that they were being filmed or that the footage would be posted online. The camera is hidden inside a pair of Ray-Ban glasses. The man’s actions are a form of street harassment and secretly filming people is not allowed. Many of the videos show his attempts to pick up women while they are shopping.

Industrial Engineering student Daniel Revet also saw the warning and says he had a good look around on Monday morning to see if he could spot him. “I remembered that one of the women said he was a tall, unattractive man. When I was in MetaForum, I kept an eye out for someone matching that description. If I were to see him approaching a woman, I’d stick around and tell the woman that there might be a camera hidden in the glasses.”

Terrace

The videos clearly show women being approached and filmed outside the Student Sports Center and on the terrace of Hubble. Spokesperson Frans Raaijmakers states that the man is not known to TU/e. “In one of his videos, the TikToker claims to be a TU/e student, but we can’t confirm that – in part because he doesn’t visibly appear on screen in his videos. Although we can’t verify the authenticity of the videos he shared, it appears that he approaches and films unknown women without prior consent. It’s possible that the footage was also uploaded to TikTok without permission. In some cases, he does this on our campus and even inside our buildings.”

In the Code of Conduct for students drawn up by TU/e in 2023, Article 14 addresses the use of social media. If the videos were, in fact, recorded and posted without consent, this TikToker would be in violation of the Regulations for Computer and Network Usage. These explicitly state, among other things: “Extra attention should be paid to the dissemination of visual material (photos and videos) in which others can be identified; this usually requires the explicit consent of the individuals concerned.”

Call to action

The TU/e spokesperson emphasizes: “Making and distributing these kinds of videos is not only in violation of our campus policy – which prohibits filming without permission inside our buildings – but also goes against our values.Because we strive to provide a safe, warm and empathetic study and work environment centered around mutual respect.”

TU/e calls on anyone who encounters such practices to report them via the Integrity and Social Safety Desk so that support can be offered where necessary. Raaijmakers: “If this TikToker is indeed a TU/e student, we would like to get in touch with him to address his behavior.”