Ethical ecosurveillance: Mitigating the potential impacts on humans of widespread environmental monitoring

Ecosurveillance has proliferated in recent years, generating vast amounts of data on the natural environment. Ecosurveillance also has significant potential impacts on humans; therefore, researchers and policymakers need new conceptual tools to anticipate and mitigate any negative effects. Surveillance studies is an interdisciplinary field in the social sciences, providing a number of insights and practical lessons for predicting and managing the complex impacts (positive and negative, intended and unintended) of surveillance tools and practices. We draw on surveillance studies literature to propose two tools to guide designers and practitioners of ecosurveillance—a ‘red flag checklist’ to anticipate potential problems, and a ‘considerations guide’ to inform design decisions across a wide range of ecosurveillance systems. These tools will help ensure that the coming era of ecosurveillance is guided by responsible and ethical practices towards wildlife and humans alike, while also realizing the potential of these technologies for improving environmental outcomes.publishedVersio

Drones and the Fourth Amendment: Redefining Expectations of Privacy

Drones have gained notoriety as a weapon against foreign terrorist targets; yet, they have also recently made headlines as an instrument for domestic surveillance. With their sophisticated capabilities and continuously decreasing costs, it is not surprising that drones have attracted numerous consumers—most notably, law enforcement. Courts will likely soon have to decipher the limits on the government’s use of drones under the Fourth Amendment. But it is unclear where, or even whether, drones would fall under the current jurisprudence. Because of their diverse and sophisticated designs and capabilities, drones might be able to maneuver through the Fourth Amendment’s doctrinal loopholes. This Note advocates analyzing drones under an adapted approach to the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test in Katz v. United States. Courts should focus more on the test’s oft-neglected first prong—whether a person exhibited a subjective expectation of privacy—and analyze what information falls within the scope of that expectation, excluding information knowingly exposed to the plain view of the public. This analysis also considers instances when, although a subjective expectation exists, it may be impossible or implausible to reasonably exhibit that expectation, a dilemma especially relevant to an analysis of drones. Courts that adopt the recommended analysis would have a coherent and comprehensible approach to factually dynamic cases challenging the constitutionality of drone surveillance. Until then, the constitutional uncertainties of these cases will likely linger

Visual surveillance: Contemporary sociological issues

The topic of this dissertation is visual surveillance. The research addresses two aspects of surveillance in the social world. First, how surveillance cameras oversee people and activities in social space, and second, how the individuals and technology of surveillance are organized. The introduction describes the recent proliferation of surveillance. The literature review describes what I call the six sociological tenets of visual surveillance. The methodology describes the qualitative techniques used in this research, including the issues and problems encountered in studying secret organizations. The results of interviews and interactions are presented as an ethnographic narrative that describes: a history of surveillance, surveillance practices, and surveillance organizations. The findings of this research propose an ideal-typical characterization of visual surveillance organizations

Regulating CCTV

Given that the number of CCTV cameras in the UK is the largest in the world, and given that it is unclear when video data should be regarded as Personal Data (or what rights a blanket definition would reasonably provide to the surveilled) it is claimed that a CCTV Act is needed in the UK. This claim appears to be supported by the police authorities [Bal06a], although in addition to a broad claim regarding protection of privacy, their view is that private CCTV should be forced to be of sufficient quality and sufficiently accessible, to be of use to the police. Given the Office of the Surveillance Commissioners� [OSC] existing role in oversight of police surveillance operations, it is suggested that the OSC be made responsible for licensing and regulating CCTV systems and operators. Protection of raw video data as a potential source of Personal Data when processed is necessary (and currently outside the scope of the Office of the Information Commissioner [OIC]). Where raw video data is sufficiently processed to produce Personal Data or where it is linked with other data sufficient to identify individuals, the data would then pass to the aegis of the OIC. Specific proposals for securing data and infrastructure are suggested, in addition to some general Surveillance Protection Principles. This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down

Vigilância camuflada? Compreendendo a contra-vigilância como prática e discurso crítico

In 2008, an exhibition center in Northern Spain hosted a project called Situation Room which tried to recreate an “open” control room drawing, on the one hand, on the experience of previous hacklabs or medialabs set up by social movements, and, on the other, on an operations room designed in the 70s in order to gather and analyze economic data to organize the Chilean economy under Salvador Allende’s government, called Project Cybersyn. The fact that an artistic/activist project would use a government initiative of surveillance as a reference brings to the fore questions about what it means to subvert the surveillance society, and the limits of privacy in the information society. What is identified as the problem in critical discourses, the ability to monitor people’s everyday moves and store personal data or the aims of surveillance? Or maybe it is the ideology or political affiliation of the surveillants that makes the difference? Are there instances in which the massive storage of personal data could be justified? Is all surveillance wrong or can control and data-mining be put to the service of dissent or the common good? This paper explores how definitions of counter-surveillance, sousveillance , privacy and data protection have been theorized in the existing literature and artistic practices and confront them with recurring themes in critical surveillance studies.En los últimos años diferentes proyectos artísticos se han inspirado en prácticas de vigilancia y los procesos sociales capturados por éstas. De la misma forma que en los estudios de vigilancia existe un debate sobre las diferencias entre las diferentes formas de contravigilancia, estos proyectos ofrecen diferentes perspectivas en torno a la posibilidad de recrear, cooptar o denunciar la vigilancia, y se relacionan con el fenómeno de formas diferentes. Apartir de una selección de seis proyectos artísticos sobre la vigilancia y el análisis de las cuestiones relacionadas con el poder, la tecnología y la agencia, este artículo utiliza el arte como puerta de entrada para la exploración de cuestiones que permanecen abiertas en el debate académico: ¿en qué consiste la subversión de la sociedad de vigilancia?, ¿cuáles son las diferencias entre recrear, co-optar y denunciar cuando se pretende concienciar sobre los aspectos cotidianos de las sociedades vigiladas? A partir de estos seis ejemplos artísticos, exploramos las formas en que los proyectos artísticos han planteado estas temáticas y las contraponen a la evolución de tratamiento de estos temas por parte de los estudios de vigilancia. Mientras que la mayor parte de los debates académicos se nutren de contribuciones académicas, este artículo propone una mirada al estado de los estudios de vigilancia desde las prácticas artísticas y las reflexiones que éstas sugieren como punto de partida, encontrando sorprendentes similitudes entre estas dos perspectivas, y sus debilidades actuales.Nos últimos anos, diferentes projetos artísticos se inspiraram nas práticas de vigilância e nos processos sociais capturados por elas. Do mesmo modo que nos estudos de vigilância existe um debate sobre as diferentes formas de contra-vigilância, estes projetos oferecem diferentes perspectivas sobre a consistência de recriar, cooptar ou denunciar a vigilância, além de se relacionar com o fenômeno de maneiras variadas. A partir da seleção de seis projetos artísticos sobre vigilância e a análise de quais seriam suas compreensões sobre as questões relacionadas ao poder, a tecnologia e os agenciamentos, este texto utiliza a arte como porta de entrada para a exploração de assuntos que permanecem indefinidos no debate acadêmico. Em que consiste a subversão na sociedade de vigilância? O que diferencia recriar, cooptar e denunciar quando o que se pretende é conscientizar sobre aspectos cotidianos da sociedade vigiada? A partir destes seis exemplos artísticos, este artigo explora como tais projetos desenvolvem a temática da vigilância, traçando paralelos com as abordagens acadêmicas

Yet Another Prying Eye: Surveillance as a Consented Cultural Phenomenon?

Authorities locate citizens through their e-trail because everything we do online is recorded. Information technologies are transforming our connections but most people forget using electronic devices is a trade-off. We are surrounded by tools that can trace our steps; yet, the desire to keep up to date with a fast-moving reality has made individuals relinquish secrecy and privacy in their daily relations. This paper is a nutshell reflection on what’s happening and resorts to the notion of consent to explain the depth of modern surveillance practices. It begins by depicting a random day focusing on gadgets that monitor us. It continues by looking at surveillance and shedding light on critical discussions on the topic; and common yet misleading slogans head the following sections. The main argument that surveillance is becoming a cultural phenomenon through technological development is presented in the last segment. It makes way for the conclusions, such as sustainability and transparency being keys to unlocking a healthier tech future.As autoridades localizam os cidadãos através do seu e-rasto porque tudo o que fazemos online é registado. As tecnologias da informação estão a transformar as nossas ligações, mas a maioria das pessoas esquece-se que usar aparelhos eletrónicos é uma troca. Estamos rodeados por ferramentas que podem seguir os nossos passos; porém, o desejo de nos mantermos atualizados com uma realidade veloz tem levado os indivíduos a abdicar do sigilo e privacidade nas suas relações diárias. Este trabalho é uma reflexão concisa do que está a suceder e recorre à noção de consentimento para explicar a profundidade das técnicas modernas de vigilância. Começa por retratar um dia aleatório com enfoque nos dispositivos que nos monitorizam. Continua olhando para a vigilância e trazendo luz a discussões essenciais sobre o assunto; e comuns, embora traiçoeiros, slogans titulam as secções seguintes. O principal argumento de que a vigilância está a tornar-se um fenómeno cultural através do desenvolvimento tecnológico é apresentado no último segmento. Este prepara o caminho para as conclusões, tais como a sustentabilidade e a transparência serem chaves para se desbloquear um futuro tecnológico mais saudável

The social impact of surveillance in three UK schools : 'angels', 'devils' and 'teen mums'

Drawing upon the preliminary findings of a broader ESRC-funded project on the 'surveilled', this paper examines the social impact of 'new surveillance' technologies on the lives of school children living in a Northern City. We conducted fifteen one-hour 'focus groups' with eighty-five 13 to 16 year-old children in three schools. The pupils were asked a range of questions designed to document their awareness, experience and response to 'surveillance' as 'school children', but also as 'regular citizens' going about their business 'outside' of the school. We show how children's experience and response to surveillance varies across 'social positionings' of class and gender, before going on to discuss the implications of our findings for the major theoretical debates on surveillance

A Comparison of Two Smart Cities: Singapore & Atlanta

This paper compares Singapore\u27s top-ranked smart city strategy to Atlanta, Georgia, a city that does not make a top smart city ranking but boasts internationally recognized smart city projects