Kim has something of an obsession with the uses & abuses of surveillance technology. Being watched by others is not really an issue for me as I am something of an exhibitionist (albeit a thoughtful one - I'm really not that pretty). Privacy & surveillance are important issues but here I'm more interested in the notion of self-surveillance.
This Melcrum article discusses tech that could take employee surveillance to a whole new level - by monitoring employees' physiological states. This tech could be used to make employee lives hell ("Number 4826 is far too relaxed & happy - quick, hit him with a ludicrous deadline!").
However we also benefit from self-awareness. A simple example of this is videotaping yourself doing a presentation - and then seeing the things you do well and the goofs you make that you are blithely unaware of. If this physiotech could be owned and used by the employee (rather than their superiors) then it could allow them to perform better without the nasty sense of being watched.
Foucault talked of governmentality. Buddhism talks about mindfulness achieved through reflection. Monitoring tech has the potential to make us more mindful if it is owned and controlled by us. Conversely it has the potential to make us feel more like a cog in a machine or a dog in a show.
Which do you want?
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Matt, not sure why, but this image of Homer Simpson being monitored at work by Mr Burns popped into my head when I read this post.
"Hmmm, let's seeeee, he's looking far to happy Smithers, bring him into my office..."
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