Keeping a close watch…

Keeping a close watch – the rise of self-surveillance and the threat of digital exposure.

In this article, Kingsley Dennis discusses the Rodney King beating and the rise of sousveillance. In 1991, Rodney King was severely beaten by LAPD officers after he disobeyed their orders to lie down. The LAPD officers did not notice that they were being taped by bystander George Holliday. This was an iconic moment of sousveillance.

Authorities and the state were now not the only one’s who could keep a close watch on citizens and other state’s. As technology advanced, citizens now had the ability to use video cameras an cell phone cameras to keep watch on authorities.

Citizen journalism is now a big part of mainstream news coverage. When reporters cannot reach the news fast enough, they rely on coverage from amateur reporters and citizens. Sure, the video might be a bit blurry, but it still tells some of the story as it happens.

Dog Shit Girl

The ability of sousveillance can have both positive and negative affects. In the hands of responsible users, sousveillance can hold authority figures such as politicians, and citizens such as the case of the Dog Shit Girl accountable for their actions. At the same time however, sousveillance can go a little too far.

In the case of the Dog Shit Girl, Internet users found the young woman and held her accountable for her actions. But Internet users went too far by spreading her personal information beyond just humiliating her for her actions. Dog Shit Girl’s privacy was violated.

I believe that Dog Shit Girl deserved her punishment – to an extent. Being publicly humiliated was enough of an punishment. Once her privacy was violated and she received comments such as: “Her life deserves to be ruined and she won’t kill herself because she is a thick-skinned bitch” is going too far.

Internet vigilantism

Sousveillance such as this is commonly called Internet vigilantism. This case is just one of the many that anonymous users online enact. The notorious website, 4Chan, has been using Internet vigilantism to its advantage for a very long time.

The most recent example is the defense of Wikileaks and web attacks on PayPal, Visa, and Amazon who have blocked donations from reaching Wikileaks.

Internet vigilantism has its advantage as I discussed above with helping to find those that have committed a crime and hold them accountable. At the same time, disadvantages are when vigilantism goes so far that it forces people into hiding and makes them worry for their own safety.

In the UK, Mary Bale dumped a cat into a wheelie bin and left it there. Her actions were captured on CCTV and the video went viral. 4Chan jumped on Bale’s actions and forced her to apologize.

However, Facebook groups titled “Death to Mary Bale” were created and police discussed Bale’s personal safety.

G2: Life through a lens

Stuart Jeffries argues that these days, having a mobile phone without a camera is absurd. Technology is so advanced and so accessible that now everyone has a mobile phone with 3G capabilities.

Cellphones are better, as Jeffries states, because they are more portable than digital cameras and can be snuck into places that do not allow cameras. Not only that, but cellphones have Wi-Fi and wireless capabilities that allow them to connect to the Internet from just about anywhere.

“They’re more portable than most digital cameras and, more importantly, offer faster connection with the Internet, which is a key consideration in this age of virtual presenteeism.”

A point that Jeffries makes is that we are viewing the world more through the lens of a camera than with our own eyes. If we are to go to the beach for example, we’ll take hundreds of photos of our experience there and maybe spend a minute or two looking at the scenery. We are so wired and have the need to post our lives online, that we do not take the time and relish life as it is.

Yet, the photos and videos from cellphone cameras have huge advantage. This advantage comes for indie music artists who are performing in small gigs around clubs, cafes etc. Usually, people who like the music pull out their cellphone and snap photos – and although the video quality is horrible when recording, the fans do it for the music.

These photos and videos are then posted on Facebook and other social networking websites that garner further attention and get free publicity for artists.

Cellphone cameras are also allowing citizens to become reporters. In the G20 protests in London of 2009, Ian Tomlinson was beaten to death by police officers. Other protestors captured this moment and shared it online. During the G20 Toronto Summit, the same thing happened as protestors captured photo and video of police brutality on peaceful demonstrators.

Camera-phones have challenged society quite  a bit over the last seven to eight years. They are revolutionary, and a great surveilling and sousveilling technology; just about everyone has a camera-phone.