11 décembre 2004
Move Over, Big Brother
"Move Over, Big Brother"
Economist (12/02/04) Vol. 373, No. 8404, P. 31
The increasing sophistication and proliferation of surveillance systems
is giving rise to fears of an Orwellian society in which the government
can eavesdrop on all aspects of citizens' lives, but security expert Bruce Schneier argues that a "democratization" of surveillance
is taking place thanks to the shrinking size of surveillance
technologies, falling digital storage costs, and increasingly advanced
data-mining systems. The wide distribution and availability of digital
systems is putting surveillance in the hands of ordinary citizens. For
example, there have been numerous reported incidents in which criminals
were caught in the act by bystanders with camera-equipped mobile
phones. Another benefit is enhanced accountability and transparency,
while traditional news media have started to embrace citizen
surveillance to augment documentation of news events. However, this
trend has also sparked concerns about industrial espionage and
increased voyeurism, and occurrences of the latter have prompted the
passage of new laws designed to bolster people's rights to their
personal image. Other crimes that inexpensive surveillance technology
supports include identity theft, bank card counterfeiting, and account
siphoning. David Brin, author of "The Transparent Society,"
thinks that a surveillance society could regulate itself, following the
maxim that "A photographically 'armed' society could turn out to be
more polite." But
he does not dismiss the possibility that omnipresent surveillance
technologies could help spread conformity by discouraging citizens from
displaying their individualism.
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2004-6/1210f.html#item15
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=3422918
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