Surveillance is expanding rapidly. Our digital existence multiplies possibilities for surveillance. It is profound to see how the processing of personal data influences so many routine aspects of life.
The accelerating demand for greater security drives much surveillance. This is obvious in, say, an airport, but it is also visible in policing and even in workplace monitoring. It is not clear, however, that such surveillance makes us safer.
Where surveillance was once conducted mainly by government or policing agencies, outsourcing has brought for-profit organizations into the surveillance arena. Corporate gathering of personal data now outstrips that done by police and intelligence agencies.
It is more difficult to decide what information is private and what is not. Your name or social insurance number clearly identify you as an individual, but what about a group photo in which you appear that is later posted on Facebook or a picture taken by a traffic camera of your car licence plate number? Each can be used to identify or track you.
Mobile and location-based surveillance is expanding. A growing number of organizations, from police to marketers, are interested in not only who you are (identification) and what you are doing (behaviour) but also where you are at any given moment. Our mobile devices make us more visible.
Surveillance practices and processes are becoming globalized. Canada is far from unique in experiencing rapid surveillance growth. In fact, much surveillance originates in broader international policy changes. Airlines, for example, operate with similar routines worldwide. How we deal with this depends on specifically Canadian traditions, laws, and cultures.
Surveillance is now embedded in everyday environments such as cars, buildings, and homes. Increasingly, each of these basic elements of daily life features devices that recognize owners or users.
The human body is increasingly a source of surveillance. Fingerprinting, iris scanning, facial recognition, and DNA records are now commonly used to identify individuals. Our bodies become passwords, and delicate tracings of our body are sometimes seen as more reliable than our statements and stories.
Social surveillance is growing. Social media have facilitated an explosion of digitally enabled people watching. This somewhat different trend raises troubling questions about privacy while making surveillance seem more normal and less exceptional.
It is tempting to conclude that the various trends identified in this list are simply unstoppable. Some people believe that. Sometimes that message comes across loud and clear from individuals and organizations that have vested interests in using the latest technologies to process more and more personal data for profit. We disagree.