Introduction to Surveillance Studies

J.K. Petersen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781466555099
• eBook ISBN:
  9781466564718
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Social Sciences

Surveillance is a divisive issue one might say it is inherently controversial. Used by private industry, law enforcement, and for national security, it can be a potent tool for protecting resources and assets. It can also be extremely invasive, calling into question our basic rights to freedom and privacy. Introduction to Surveillance Studies explo

SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

BRIEF HISTORY

Introduction

KEY CONCEPTS

• emergence of surveillance devices
• use and abuse of spy devices
• public controversy and accountability

Introduction

There was a time when surveillance meant little more than spying from behind a bush. When humankind learned to fabricate metal and glass, it became possible to observe objects farther away, or smaller than the unaided eye could see, and surveillance entered the technological realm.

Spy tools were originally luxuries, available only to nobility and the wealthiest merchants. They spread to navigation and trade and, by the 1800s, to the middle class. Since the mid‑2000s, however, there has been a significant increase in the availability and sale of surveillance devices and the consumer market has boomed. Surveillance has shifted from human eyes and security forces to sensors and software.

The attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 struck a nerve in human vulnerability and created a climate where people willingly gave up privacy and freedom in exchange for greater safety or, at least, the perception of safety. It spawned an entrepreneurial swing toward defense projects, shifted priorities of venture capitalists, and gave governments license to move tax dollars into the purchase of high‑end technology such as body scanners, biometrics equipment, increased border surveillance, and computer databases. Money was also allocated to open airspace to uninhabited aerial vehicles, most of which are designed for surveillance. Consumer spending on spy gadgets also increased with advances in microelectronics. Low‑cost video cameras and other computerized data‑capture devices are available to anyone and many are sold for entrepreneurial or voyeuristic purposes rather than for security.

The microchip is an Orwellian milestone in the evolution of surveillance technologies. It furthered global communication but also enabled unprecedented intrusion into personal lives with gadgets that are inexpensive and more powerful than ever before.

surveillance noun

1. observing, sensing, or otherwise determining the presence or influence of persons, activities, or phenomena of interest, especially as regards protection of assets, territory, property, family, personal safety, power, commercial opportunities, or social relationships.

Surveillance has the character of vigilance and observations or related data may be logged or recorded.

etymology: from Latin vigilare; and French sur- (over/above) and veiller (to be on watch, to stay up), thus, to watch over. Veilleur de nuit is a ‘watcher of the night’—a night watchman.

The term surveillance covers many forms of observation and information‑gathering. From wired secret agents to drug‑sniffing dogs and portable DNA kits, there are many ways to gather and record data. Some forms of surveillance are so common, we don’t give them a second thought, like checking a peephole if someone is at the door, or glancing at Caller ID to see who phoned.

Other forms of surveillance are sophisticated and pervasive. In most urban centers, it is no longer possible to walk down a street or buy groceries without being watched and recorded—sometimes as often as 300 times a day. Cameras blanket the streets, gaze down from ceilings, and are mounted on roving vans that peer into yards and sometimes windows, snapping private moments. Planes and satellites are watching from the skies. Many of the images captured by these technologies are stored for extended periods or uploaded to the Internet.

Cradle-to-Grave Surveillance

Surveillance begins before we understand the meaning of the word. Babies are fingerprinted, footprinted, and cheek‑swabbed to collect DNA samples. Some have been implanted with rice‑sized radio transceiving chips to monitor their whereabouts. By the time a child is three, he or she will be recorded tens of thousands of times, perhaps even displayed on video‑sharing sites for the entertainment of the masses. The child has no choice and no control over how this happens or how it might affect his or her future.

Street cams, employer security systems, and satellites chart our activities on a daily basis, and sometimes minute‑by‑minute. Some employers have tried to make off‑duty monitoring a requirement of the job, a trend of concern to privacy advocates.

Surveillance technologies are not limited to devices that monitor our physical attributes and movements. Data repositories linked to online forums, search engines, and social networks house a growing body of information that enables data aggregators (those who collect data from various sources) to construct a sophisticated picture of a person’s personal habits, relations, and economic status—one that is routinely sold without the person’s knowledge or consent.

In the past, surveillance was mainly aimed at observing business rivals or protecting property. Even national defense serves these aims, if one considers competing countries and national territory as a broad analogy. Now it is increasingly used to gather information to sell to third parties or to track potential consumers, so they can be targeted for individualized marketing. These days, cameras above retail checkouts are less about preventing theft than they are about profiling. Supermarket and department store “rewards” cards serve a similar purpose, by logging consumer buying habits and preferences. Some of these activities come back to the customer in terms of discounts and improved service, but much of the information is sold to third parties. Another big venue for consumer surveillance is online social networking sites—a significant resource for consumer demographics.

Social networking began as a way for people to keep in touch. Since their modest beginnings, online “water coolers” have become hotspots for advertisers to target groups and individuals, and for data miners to glean personal, insurance, and marketing details on millions of unwitting users. People have lost their jobs because a work rival or disgruntled acquaintance reported an innocent holiday photo posted in a personal section of a site that the user thought was inaccessible to the general public. On some sites, censors are paid to snoop through private areas.

Free email services are a boon for contacting loved ones or business associates, but are also widely abused. Not only can administrators see a person’s correspondence and contacts, regardless of company policy, but there are also hackers who make a point of breaching computer systems and selling the “cracking” software to data miners. In addition to information on the Internet, malicious software (malware) can surreptitiously invade people’s home and work computers—unleashing programs that quietly snoop through hard drives and send the information to other locations.

We are in the birthing stage of the surveillance movement. In the future, it is conceivable that every cranny of every home will be mapped in exacting detail, if not by the current owner, then possibly the previous homeowner seeking to sell the property, or a contractor wanting to promote newly built properties. The same is true of our daily activities. No matter how much effort an individual makes to protect personal privacy, he or she has little control over what others innocently or maliciously say or post online relating to him or her.

Data Security

Password and security experts work diligently to create encryption systems to protect sensitive information and yet, despite their efforts, data is rarely safe from intrusion or distribution.

The weakest link is not encryption, or physical access, but the human factor. Frailty, greed, lack of foresight, bigotry, and revenge have all, at one time or another, motivated misuse of surveillance equipment or the information gathered. Further, if information is uploaded to the Internet, it is impossible to take it back. Humans and software robots regularly crawl the Net, hunting for additions or changes, and instantly grab and store what they find.

Whether we like it or not, we are being watched, numbered, and cataloged as commodities, our personal lives logically reconstructed and stored by companies we’ve never heard of and people we’ve never met. The information is combined with details from other sources to be cross‑referenced, freely distributed, or sold to subscribers.

Large-Scale Users of Surveillance

Governments, corporations, and law enforcement agencies are heavy users of surveillance. Through the ages, they have sought to increase their information storehouses even when the data was not of immediate use. In the past, humans who had committed no crime were kept in dungeons for years, sometimes decades, on the remote chance they could be used for political ransom or prisoner exchange in the unforeseeable future. Some countries still do this.

While our methods have changed, our motives have not. Both the U.K. and U.S. governments have given frequent assurances that personal information, such as driver’s license data, DNA profiles, and other sensitive information on law‑abiding citizens will not be sold to third parties or, in the case of DNA, be retained in their systems, and yet they have been found selling driver’s license information and have incrementally and repeatedly changed policies regarding DNA collection to the point that almost everything is retained, on the off‑chance someone might commit a crime or be politically dangerous in the hypothetical future. Manacles that bound people to dungeon walls two centuries ago could potentially re‑emerge as data and biometric storehouses.

Information is a tool of warfare. A great deal of government and law‑enforce‑ment information‑gathering is legitimate. These institutions are trying to maintain a competitive edge for their nations and to keep the domestic peace.

In other instances, the information‑gathering is for political gain or repressive purposes. Honesty is not universal, and democracy is not planet‑wide—there are regions where governments still dominate the populace. Even in democracies, new leaders are elected every few years and the political climate can change over‑night—there’s no guarantee democracy will continue without public vigilance.

Balance of Power

One of the biggest challenges facing a surveillance society is that of maintaining two‑way observation. If those in power can surveil the public, without the public having the same technology and right of access to surveil those in power, over time, the inequity can create a top‑heavy imbalance that threatens constitutional rights.

Governments don’t automatically balance government, corporate, and individual rights without public input. Individuals and institutions interpret their needs through a narrow filter—it takes effort to consider the big picture.

In America, lobbying¹ has a strong presence in the halls of Congress. Corporate lobbies have increased their influence on government since the early days of the republic to the point where some are calling it a corporatocracy.

That’s not to say every aspect of surveillance is negative or damaging. There are significant benefits to responsible use of surveillance, including

• caretaker cams that monitor infants, handicapped individuals, and pets,
• security systems to protect livestock, property, and ATMs,
• safety systems in industrial zones, hazardous areas, and toxic waste sites,
• forensic tools for locating and analyzing evidence for solving crimes,
• street and highway cams that warn of traffic accidents or bottlenecks, ferry line‑ups, and delays at border crossings,
• global positioning systems (GPSs) that facilitate rescue operations, wildlife tracking, and navigation,
• aerial and marine monitors that aid in search and rescue, promote significant scientific discoveries, and help deter poaching and smuggling,
• environmental surveillance that warns of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and tornadoes,
• specialized satellite data for monitoring human rights violations and military actions against unarmed civilians,
• military surveillance that prevents ambushes and keeps servicemembers out of harm’s way,
• scientific surveillance to locate and monitor archaeological sites, global and local climate changes, ecology, and our place in the universe, and
• health surveillance and medical diagnostics that provide early warnings and statistical information that can save countless lives.

Surveillance is a tool and, like any tool, it can be used for good or evil.

¹Lobbying is advocate pressure on government decision‑making and, in the U.S., a constitutionally protected right for persons to peacably petition for a “redress of grievances.” Since establishing lobbying rights in the First Amendment, corporate lobbies not only petition the government on grievances, but expend large sums of money to influence or promote those in power (or those seeking power) so they will structure laws and policies in their favor.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Focus of this Book
• Section 1: Introduction and Overview
• Section 2: Technologies and Techniques
• Section 3: Practical Considerations
• Section 4: Privacy and Legislation
• Section 5: Resources