Computer Surveillance

Computer surveillance is an act of gathering, storing, processing, assessing, and using data stored on or transmitted via a computer device, without the knowledge or consent of the person or groups who own the data. The information being surveilled may be stored on a storage device or transmitted via a computer network, such as the Internet. Thus, computer surveillance has a [Page 212]broader meaning than Internet surveillance or network surveillance. While some treat computer surveillance as something neutral, necessary, and indispensable in contemporary societies for organizational and security matters, others suggest that it should be considered as a purely negative concept, as it is a tool of disciplinary power, which is related to potential or actual harm, coercion, violence, asymmetric power relations, control, manipulation, and ...