Public boundaries: Privacy and surveillance in a technological world

Abstract

Surveillance cameras placed in public places by security forces and police departments and cameras linked for transmission via the Internet represent variations on the theme of private connection and public life illustrating the difficulty in fixing boundaries of publicness and privateness. Theoretically, the awareness of cameras is though to foster a sense of safety and therefore intended to serve as a means of revitalizing public spaces, making them more inviting as sites of public social life and political activity. Privacy rights and communication freedoms are among those areas particularly intertwined with psychological and functional expectations in using a public space but these rights and freedoms are entangled with conflicting interests in safety and security offered by the surveillance industry.

Key concepts:

• Privacy
• Surveillance
• Community
• Human Needs
• Safety