Surveillance is pervasive in contemporary societies, driven by massive data sourcing and digital innovations such as algorithmic decision-making, automated facial recognition systems, tracking and sensing devices, and healthcare technologies. The ubiquity of networked technologies in our everyday lives enables surveillance in many ways and for many kinds of purposes. These technologies obviously increase productivity and convenience, but the circulation of massive amounts of data also leads to serious concerns about the new potentials for surveillance. Data-intensive surveillance can create privacy invasion, manipulation of behavior, biases, inequalities, and increased power and influence beyond our democratic reach. Employed not only towards individuals and social groups by public institutions and private corporations, monitoring and tracking is also performed regularly by and for individuals in the intimate context of their private lives. Surveillance affects the social world in unintended, messy ways, but is often understood as something externally imposed, hierarchical and instrumental. However, this only offers a limited perspective on the role of human agency in performing, influencing, and experiencing surveillance.
The project opens new scientific territory by foregrounding the “who” of surveillance - that we are not just observed objects, but also subjects who experience and practice surveillance. The health domain is particularly relevant to focus attention on, as it intersects with the broader surveillance landscape. By scrutinizing experiences and practices within the health domain, we can thus gain valuable insights into the broader implications and challenges of surveillance technologies across different domains. Using case studies, the project examines how we encounter surveillance through different aspects of our participation in the Danish welfare society as:
This research agenda challenges the notion of surveillance as a one-way exercise of power and views technologies as non-neutral, shaped by social contexts. Surveillance theory traditionally views it as a tool for enforcing power, whether through government control or individual self-regulation according to societal norms. With the rise of digital technologies, however, the dynamics of surveillance have shifted. Today, surveillance isn't just the domain of authorities but also involves individuals and companies, creating new power relations. Data-intensive surveillance raises significant privacy concerns, as personal data is often controlled by private companies and used for profit. The perspective of post-phenomenology can shed light on how technology and human interaction influence each other, suggesting that the impact of surveillance technologies depends on their context and use. This view challenges the notion that surveillance is simply a one-way exertion of power and highlights how technology is shaped by its social environment. It emphasizes the need to understand surveillance not just as a neutral tool with predetermined effects but as something influenced by ongoing social and technical interactions.
At the core is the thesis that the role of human agency in data-intensive surveillance is key to understanding the capacity and complexity of present and future digitally saturated societies. Emphasis on human agency in surveillance operations has the potential to uncover the way surveillance technologies rely on the participation and socio-cultural contexts of users. To address this, the project ask the following research questions:
Practical information
Project period: July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2029.
PI: Anders Albrechtslund.
Funding: Carlsberg Foundation, DKK 9,990,883.
