The intensification of Surveillance

The word surveillance often has negative connotations attached to it with many people’s main association being the watchful eye of Big Brother as depicted in George Orwell's book, 1984. The idea of being watched is often a concept that scares and intimidates people, with the media regularly focusing on scaremongering stories such as how many times a day we are caught on CCTV. However, as Kirstie Ball and Frank Webster discuss, there are also many positives to the surveillance that is undertaken in this country. For example, the intense surveillance that takes place through a variety of methods such as CCTV and monitoring internet usage and phone calls has enabled the police to obtain evidence against criminals that, without this kind of surveillance, would be difficult to achieve. But how much surveillance is too much? Ball and Webster discuss the way in which society has in theory given the green light to this kind of intense surveillance due to the fear of what could happen if it wasn’t there.

September 11^th whipped everyone into a frenzy, prompting, amongst other things, higher security measures in airports. In January 2010, airport security measures were taken to the extreme with full body scanners being ordered to be used in many UK airports. There was inevitable controversy surrounding these scanners as many people felt that this was a type of surveillance that was infringing too much on their personal rights.

Many people complained that the scanners made them feel uncomfortable and exposed, but what people forget is that many are voluntarily exposing themselves to surveillance in their everyday life. Forget CCTV for a moment, and think about the internet. It would be naive to think that your facebook profile is personal and only viewed by your friends. Many people don’t read the small print when they sign up and realise that any information they submit on facebook, as soon as it is published, is then owned by facebook. The information on facebook is regularly monitored, but not only this, your information is often used for a different purpose than you intended it to be, for example, it is not just a co incidence that the adverts placed next to your profile may all relate to your interests. In a world full of surveillance, it is sometimes the things that seem most harmless that can cause the most damage and the things that seem most frightening that can keep you safe.