Surveillance

Surveillance technologies and practices have become increasingly developed and diffuse. In a generic sense, surveillance refers to the process of observing behavior. In contemporary usage, surveillance refers to the use of electronic devices to expand the reach and depth of traditional sensory observation and knowledge. For example, a video camera may serve as the extension of the eye, and a listening device may serve as an extension of the ear. Similarly, data-mining methods may deepen the boundaries of what is knowable, allowing information to be detected well beyond what is normally accessible. Characteristics of emergent surveillance technologies contributing to their increased use are their often unobtrusive and cost-effective nature.

The dominant academic metaphor for understanding surveillance in contemporary society is known as the “panopticon,” derived from 18th-century utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham's (1748–1832) architectural design for a prison that allowed for continual supervision of inmates. Given the design of the panopticon, prisoners were aware that they might be observed at any time, causing them to control their own behavior. This self-control stemmed from the perception that one might be under observation, which was reinforced by the periodic supervision of prisoners by hidden guards. Although Bentham designed the panopticon as a prison house, he also suggested its use in orphanages and poor houses. While contemporary persons do not literally live in a panopticon, scholars of surveillance argue that they nonetheless live and behave as if they are potentially under observation in an electronic web of surveillance technologies. In this sense, many scholars argue that the contemporary surveillance society is analogous to a broad-reaching panopticon of social control.