NP Rank:
Make Your Own Surveillance State
Though massively decentralized, the citizenry of a developed country handily outguns its government in terms of surveillance equipment. Every cameraphone, every digicam can be used to watch the watchmen.
"Sous-veillance" will see video sharing sites such as YouTube used by citizens to shine a spotlight on things such as deadly hygiene lapses in hospital wards and uncollected rubbish, according to the European Information Society Group (Eurim).
The vision of the "public monitoring the state" and shaming them into action using cameraphones is one of several key ways that Eurim says technology can be used to transform government and empower the public.
Its report says: "New web applications such as YouTube or Patient Opinion enable people to monitor the state and to be heard. People can easily post videos of dirty hospital wards, of uncollected rubbish or of pot holes in the road, to a world-wide audience.
"Sous-veillance might transform political engagement due to its ease of use, by engaging even the time-poor majority and extending citizenship beyond the usual special interest groups."
(found at Slashdot)
NowPublic on Facebook
Crowd Power
-
farleyj
', Maine, United States -
craighaymon
Austin, Texas, United States -
robwilsonmp
Reading, United Kingdom







Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 11:44 on July 31st, 2008
jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 13:41 on July 31st, 2008
jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 14:45 on July 31st, 2008
jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Jordan, the way I see it is that spying has been around forever and now with the use of technology it is getting a heck of a lot more sophisticated. Why not have people watching each other? Of course there are going to be egregous abuses. But that already happens. I don't think there's a way to regulate this type of behavior.
at 00:59 on August 1st, 2008
jordan, I like this story. Civil society takes it's part in creating public opinion, video reports can have deadly impact, seeing is believing. Youtube, dailymotion changed the world in one year.