In this paper, we examine the potential of pervasive computing to create widespread
sousveillance, that will complement surveillance, through the development of lifelogs;
socio-spatial archives that document every action, every event, every
conversation, and every material expression of an individual’s life. Examining lifelog
projects and artistic critiques of sousveillance we detail the projected mechanics
of life-logging and explore their potential implications. We suggest, given that lifelogs
have the potential to convert exterior generated oligopticons to an interior
panopticon, that an ethics of forgetting needs to be developed and built into the
development of life-logging technologies. Rather than seeing forgetting as a
weakness or a fallibility we argue that it is an emancipatory process that will free
pervasive computing from burdensome and pernicious disciplinary effects