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‘Surveillance’ Society

Yesterday’s BBC Radio 4 programme: Privacy Under Pressure raised concerns about regulation being slow to keep up with new data capturing technologies, (specifically Google Glass) and even questioned whether there will be psychological implications for the general public, if the freedom to express ourselves is negatively affected by an explosion of real time ‘publishers’ everywhere.

In the context of retail, merchants are also turning to ‘surveillance’ techniques, via both in-store video, in the form of stereoscopic cameras with data processing and WLAN-enabled Smartphone tracking. They are experimenting with these to increase their revenues and to reduce the current advantages that online retailers like Amazon have over them. Mothercare in the UK and Nordstrom in the States are two such pioneers. By taking data from ‘surveillance analytics’ and mapping their customers’ paths in real time, they can use this anonymous information to optimise their store layouts for greater conversion. They can interact even more if the customers also opt into allowing them to create their actual profiles.

You could argue that this is the offline equivalent to cookies, but you can see why it’s evolved - after all websites use analytical data to optimise their own customer experiences. However, just as in the online world, it’s probably less about the amount of data collected that concerns the greater public right now, especially when there are obvious benefits to both parties. Post the Snowden exposé, what really worries them is what exactly can be inferred from their personal data. Hence the fervent debate in the media right now about the ethics of this brave new digital world.

What do you think, how comfortable are you with a ‘surveillance society?’

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathy Heslop .