The United Kingdom has become like the reality TV show “Big Brother”. It is known that there are thousands or according to the British Security Industry Authority, perhaps millions of cameras stationed all over the country; interconnecting to businesses, private homes and even authorities that give off a sense that each person is constantly being watched (Barrett). This idea of the “surveillance society” strikes idea that these people are constantly being observed (London Evening Standard). It comments on the fact that the gaze influences the way that people portray themselves. In the United Kingdom, the cameras seem to provide mixed interpretation of the functionality in which it is debated as an invasion of privacy but at the same time, it offers a sense of safety and security by establishing that through surveillance that an individual must behave accordingly. In literature, the idea of surveillance, the gaze and voyeurism affects the way that the characters portray themselves. It becomes an act or a performance. Works like William Gibson and Bruce Sterlings, The Difference Engine and Nancy Lee’s short stories “Sisters”, “Valentine” and “Sally, in Parts” uses these motifs to establish that through gaze and surveillance that an individual such as Sybil Gerard or the women in Lee’s narrative will put on an act in order to gain attention of the male audience and will behave in a certain manner because of this act of voyeurism whether if it is from an individuals or through technology. It comes back to Jeremy Bentham’s design of the Panopticon in which was a prison that was designed to have a round-the-clock surveillance due to its complete 360 degree design that it stationed around a tower that houses the inspector (Stefanek 10)....
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...ead Girls. Ed. Ellen Seligman. Toronto: Emblem Edition, 2002. 69-96. Print.
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What is the historic context of surveillance, whose current form is electronic? We now know that the N.S.A. has no fewer than 46 surveillance programs (three in conjunction with the UK’s GCHQ) as described by surveillance reporter Julia Angwin (2014). For example:
...that was for public safety purposes is being used for advertising – the cameras are able to recognize faces and thus target the ads. The so called “telescreens” that Orwell made up are actually already in our households. New “Smart” televisions send data about our behaviour and what files we have back to remote servers where they are analysed in order to make the marketing even more effective. However, this is just a beginning. If people are ignorant enough, the companies and government have a free rein to spy on citizens.
As the credits roll we see the blinds of a three-pane window slowly being lifted up, after they finish the camera moves forward revealing to our gaze the reality on the other side of the open window. It faces the back of many other buildings, the courtyard they enclose, and a sliver view of the backstreet. More importantly, it faces many other windows just like it. Behind each one of those there are people, going about their day, doing mundane tasks, unaware of being observed. In his 1954 movie “Rear Window” Alfred Hitchcock invites us to engage in the guilt free observation of the lives of others. The main character, photographer L. B. Jefferies, is home stuck with a broken leg encased in a cast that goes all the way to his hip, providing the perfect excuse for him to amuse himself in this hot Manhattan summer by engaging in the seemly harmless act of looking into the many windows he can see from his back apartment. Casual, harmless, voyeurism has been part of the human behavior for ages but in the sixty years since the movie was released it has gained increasing traction. Reality television, Movies, TV shows, YouTube, blogging, Instagram and Facebook are examples of modern tools that allow us to engage in the observation of others while remaining protectively hidden from their returning gaze. In its essence the casual voyeuristic actions we engage in while observing others when using these new media tools follows the same pattern of behavior described in the movie, with the same positive and negative consequences. Casual voyeurism distinguishes itself from pathological voyeurism, which is characterized by a preference in obtaining sexual gratification only from spying others, by the removal of the sexual component from the equat...
This method of surveillance effectively curtails negative social behaviour by keeping the population under constant fear of being watched. The objective of this intense surveillance is to create a modern Panopticon, a prison designed by British architect Jeremy Bentham in the late 1700s. This prison featured a centralized guard tower surrounded by brightly lit cells. Due to the difference in the quality of light, the prisoners were not able to see the guard tower so, “not knowing if they are being watched, but having to assume that they are, the prisoners [adjusted] their behavior” (Jan Kietzmann 135). This method was adapted by many societies including soviet Russia where the people were so afraid of being spied upon that they would only meet their friends in public to avoid being suspected of private conspiracy (Enteen 209). As in communist Russia, the governing body’s manipulation of surveillance is in an effort to ensure that no citizens are doing, or thinking of doing anything contrary to the goals of the party. This omnipresent surveillance has been shown to cut down on crime, however this comes at the cost of the citizens’ freedom and spontaneity, turning vibrant humans into fearful
Zetter, Kim. "World’s Top Surveillance Societies — Updated with Link." Editorial. Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 31 Dec. 2007. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
The government has total control: every room has telescreens with hidden cameras, everywhere people look, propaganda posters are hung with the slogan “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,” (Orwell, 1) and Thought Police snoop through people’s
Stam, Robert & Pearson, Robertson., ‘Hitchcock’s Rear Window: Refluxivity and the Critique of Voyeurism’ in Deutelbaum, Marshall & Poague, Leland A. ed., A Hitchcock Reader (John Wiley & Sons: 2009).
You are alone in a dark cell. You are fearful because you know that you are being watched, but you do not know who is watching you or when you are being watched. You are suddenly conscious of every move you make because you are aware that someone is monitoring every inhale, every exhale, and every little aspect of your life. This is the concept of Jeremy Bentham’s “Panopticon.”
Foucault once stated, “Our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance; under the surface of images, one invests” (301). By this, he means that our society is full of constant supervision that is not easily seen nor displayed. In his essay, Panopticism, Foucault goes into detail about the different disciplinary societies and how surveillance has become a big part of our lives today. He explains how the disciplinary mechanisms have dramatically changed in comparison to the middle ages. Foucault analyzes in particular the Panopticon, which was a blueprint of a disciplinary institution. The idea of this institution was for inmates to be seen but not to see. As Foucault put it, “he is the object of information, never a subject in communication”(287). The Panopticon became an evolutionary method for enforcing discipline. Today there are different ways of watching people with constant surveillance and complete control without anyone knowing similar to the idea of the Panopticon.
Surveillance technology has improved abundantly overtime. It is so advanced in today’s society, to where you could be sitting in the comfort of your own home, and not know that you are being watched through your webcam. Being as though it is developed to capture ones every move it can be a bit invading. Although surveillance technology is a great resource for many things such as keeping society safe, it could lead to negative outcomes including: invasion of privacy and identity theft. Surveillance technology has grown vigorously since the attack on 9/11. For example, there has said to have been a proliferation of surveillance cameras that have been installed in public places such as Times Square and the nation’s capital. Also Britain being
Surveillance is the monitoring of behaviour. In addition, surveillance system is the process of monitoring the behaviour of people, objects or processes within systems for conformity to expected or desired norms in trusted systems for security control (Cohen and Medioni, 1999). Video surveillance systems have existed 25 years ago whereby it started with 100% analogue system and gradually becoming digital system. The closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera is the most popular video surveillance because of its reliability and low price. The camera does not broadcast images but it records them, so that user can always check to see what occurred while they were away. It is widely used at public spaces and residences for security purposes.
Gallagher, T. 2002. Senses of Cinema – Max Ophuls: A New Art – But Who Notices?. [online] Available at: http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/feature-articles/ophuls/ [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014].
“I always feel like somebody's watching me and I have no privacy.” These are the famous lyrics from one of Michael Jackson's hit songs Somebody’s Watching Me. Now, back when this song was created, there was not as much worry about people constantly being watched by cameras, but it seems to fit in the problem that my generation is facing. In the book 1984, written by George Orwell, the society is always being watched through a device called a telescreen. The main character, Winston, has trouble adjusting to the life of always being monitored, and the fact that if you made one mistake you could be tortured or killed. This book was made in the late 1940’s and was written to show what the predicted future would be like. Many people who have read
The past decade has seen a proliferation of law enforcement security cameras in public areas, with central London having more cameras than any other city. In cities like New York, Los Angeles, and central London, cameras can be found at almost every intersection. Terrorist attacks have been a major basis for this significant increase in law enforcement security cameras; however, privacy advocates, along with many of the public, feel that it’s an invasion of privacy. People are concerned that all this video surveillance, which is continuously expanding, has created a “Big Brother” society, where people are constantly watched. This creates paranoia and unease for people that just want to go about living there private lives, without feeling that their every move is being watched. The increased presence of surveillance cameras is almost compared to George Orwell’s novel from 1984, where he imagined a future in which people would be monitored and controlled by the government. One question that needs to be asked is: does the benefits of law enforcement security cameras outweigh the negative sides to it? Although the invasion of privacy is a serious argument against law enforcement cameras; nevertheless, it should be seen as a valuable tool to help fight crime. As long as surveillance cameras are in public places and not in people's homes, privacy advocates should not be concerned.