Steve Mann's Wearable Cameras

In Steve Mann's "'Reflectionism' and 'Diffusionism': New Tactics for Deconstructing the Video Surveillance Superhighway" he seems to be challenging the merit of Panopticon and criticizing the ignorance and defferrance to higher authority that workers seem to have in regards to surveillance technology. In dealing with a concept that Mann calls "aquisitional privacy," this essay is basically talking about whether or not stores have the right to a form of surveillance that people have come to accept as "the norm." When asked why stores are video taping him, Mann is either met with a reference to the orders of a higher authority or immediately attacked and accused of being a criminal, the only people for which the fear is apparently legitimate. While Panopticon boasted the power in people being just potentially watched without ever having to actually watch them, Mann feels that the reverse is necessary in rebellion to this. He feels that the prisoner needs to be able to, briefly and without warning, view the guard inside and surveil his actions.

I found Mann's creation of the Wearable Wireless Webcam to be a hilarious and ingenious way to reverse the typical surveillance set up and make many accusing workers eat their own words. By claiming that he is videotaping for his own personal safety or for a fearful boss far away, he is creating a more easily understood version of corporate surveillance, forcing workers to see and question a system that they have accepted unquestioningly. He unveils the potential injustice while revealing the sense of mystery intrinsic to security to actually be a falsely placed trust in hopes that people will become aware of the surveillance around them and take action to reduce the surveillance that interferes with personal privacy.

It was an interesting change that Mann went through in his article, beginning with reports of future technology that is developing to one that he hopes to develop from his own creation. All of his first described technologies invade personal space and personal decision to report to another authority for a vaguely described reason, essentially forwarding Mann's surveillance injustices into the home and workspace, whereas Mann's final invention commercializes his overall goal and provides the most convincing explanation of all of them. The early inventions are eerie in the fact that they observe the person unwittingly, seeing through clothing and examining skin in the shower, and then communicate its findings elsewhere. All of the information gathered could potentially be used in extremely embarrassing and hurtful ways, forcing the user to ignore these risks and trust a machine with an invisible receiver to not misuse this information. The wearable cameras provide aid for only the user under the user's individual terms and desires. The authority remains with the user.