Tag Archives: Panopticon

“Modernity and surveillance: from fixity to liquidity” (David Lyon on Bauman)

Day 47: “Modernity and surveillance: from fixity to liquidity” (David Lyon on Bauman)

Weird! No timelapse video today… message was a quote by Snowden!

I delayed this post on purpose, as I was waiting the video of December 16 to appear online. So far it hasn’t come, so I decided to write this. I just find it weird that this happened. The picture below shows Panopticam channel on YouTube and the only missing part of most recent videos is the one on the 16/12/2015…

Well, yes, it can be a technical fail (I asked one of the project’s coordinators, will see!), but right on the day I showed a quote by Ed Snowden? Anyway, the message was:

“Under observation, we act less free, which means we effectively are less free.” (Ed Snowden)

Day 45: no videos on the 16/12/2015

Jeremy, would you look at me differently if I used Tor or encrypted my emails? The NSA would…

This message was inspired by this article in the guardian: “Attempts to stay anonymous on the web will only put the NSA on your trail” (by John Naughton)

Day 44: Jeremy, would you look at me differently if I used Tor or encrypted my emails? The NSA would…

In a digital and codified world, do we still have any privacy, Jeremy?

Ideal day for asking questions about codes, digital technologies, big data, and privacy. After leaving my message, I run straight to Somerset House to see the inspiring exhibition Big Bang Data. It’s definitely a must-see!

Day 43: In a digital and codified world, do we still have any privacy, Jeremy?
[thanks to D.T.]

Is our broadly surveilled world a “Kafkaesque” or “Orwellian” world?

A different visit today, surprised by the presence of Elaad Yain, who apparently knew about the project and kindly volunteered to be in the picture with today’s message.

By the way, the message was an allusion to the live discussion around the references to the massively surveilled world we live in. Is it better referred to Kafka, Orwell or Huxley? This interesting debate can be followed here and here.

Day 42: Is our broadly surveilled world a “Kafkaesque” or “Orwellian” world? (www.bit.ly/kohsurv)

We have all become “mobile surveillance devices”, Jeremy!

We are, to the eyes of the computational and communicational systems that control most of today’s transactions, a combination of numbers and our identity (and what we do with it) is dependable on these numbers. It’s nearly impossible to “hide” from the codification as almost all the activities of our contemporary way of life are mediated by this dematerialization of people, actions, human agency, into codes in a specific system.

The network capabilities of information and communication technologies, with the possibility of having systems and devices talking to each other (IoT), and the world-wide spread use of social media, makes anyone of us a “mobile surveillance device”.

Forget about big brother, we now have little brothers. According to Zygmunt Bauman (Liquid Modernity, 2000), “Whatever else the present stage in the history of modernity is, It is also, perhaps above all, post-Panoptical”.

Day 41: We have all become “mobile surveillance devices”, Jeremy!

Aren’t you sick of “Smart Control Rooms”, Jeremy?

I’m back! After a few days away from London, in a workshop discussing augmented urbanities and smart urbanism (and talking about control rooms), this is the only thing I could ask Jeremy!…

Day 37: Aren’t you sick of “Smart Control Rooms”, Jeremy?

“Splintering surveillance and invisible territories”. I’ll mention you, Jeremy!

“Splintering Surveillance as a New Territorial Layer?” (Situating Architecture Lecture Series, UCL), Dec 7th 7pm at The Bartlett School of Architecture.

Click here for more information about this talk.