Introduction
One should state that surveillance in its modern variant can bring benefit to the judicial system and promote security in society. Video surveillance, GPS tracking, scanning and other technological innovations are effectively used to prevent crime. From this perspective, surveillance provides great benefits to society as it allows tracking crimes and helps authorities to take effective measures to protect citizens. However, observation and monitoring of personal and electronic communication data and other types of dataveillance have much more negative consequences for ordinary citizens.
Despite the fact that authorities claim that such data surveillance helps control crime rates, in fact, it causes a certain breakdown of individuals’ boundaries and leads to a kind of violation of human rights to privacy and freedom of activity. It is possible to speak about the real danger of governments and corporations using data that are obtained through the observation of personal data for fraud and illegal purposes in some cases. Such data can be used for discrimination or even illegal deprivation of individuals’ civil rights. From this perspective, surveillance can have positive effects on citizens, but when corporations and authorities realize dataveillance, in some cases, it is a potentially negative phenomenon.
Definitions of Surveillance and Dataveillance
It is vital to see the difference between surveillance and dataveillance in order to provide more convincing arguments to support the stated position. Thus, surveillance can be viewed as the process of constantly monitoring someone or something in order to identify potential problems or violations. A person or an automated system can do surveillance procedures. For example, video surveillance can monitor various areas of responsibility in the justice system or on the streets and detect potentially harmful events. Sometimes, surveillance can be used as a means of crime prevention or to monitor the behavior of visitors to a location.
On the contrary, dataveillance is the process of using data analysis to track some people’s behavior. The problem is that dataveillance can be used to develop behavior models and analyze trends and correlations. Thus, dataveillance is associated with using algorithms to process data, individual characteristics, and behavior automatically. For example, it can be used to analyze internet traffic, control access to data, and search for threats. Furthermore, dataveillance can also be used to predict people’s behavior and prevent potential threats.
Benefits of Surveillance
These particular features of surveillance and dataveillance allow for speaking about their potential risks and benefits for citizens. Thus, surveillance is accepted in society because, in some cases, it can help detect and prevent crime and terrorist attacks. For example, some government agencies use surveillance cameras and other technologies to detect crimes and attacks on the public good.
Another argument is that surveillance can help detect fraudulent activities. By keeping an eye on illegal activities, law enforcement agencies can quickly respond to such events and prevent them. In addition, surveillance can help prevent violations of public safety, such as when doctors monitor patients who may pose a danger to the public or when government agencies monitor the movement of people in places where a terrorist attack is possible.
Finally, surveillance can improve the quality of citizens’ lives. Many organizations, such as transportation companies, use tracking technology to improve the quality of life of citizens. As a result, this approach can be used to reduce waiting times at bus stops or to optimize traffic in city traffic.
Dangers of Dataveillance
The effects of dataveillance on the public are more controversial. The problem is that digital data collection can cause the information leakage. When data collection becomes intensive, it can lead to large amounts of data being stolen or hacked. Such information leakage can damage individuals and companies, as personal data and confidential information may fall into the wrong hands.
When personal information is collected and stored, it becomes more vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. This can lead to serious consequences such as identity or financial data theft. Furthermore, in some cases, data leakage can even lead to security or physical security threats.
Therefore, another issue to discuss is privacy breaches, as surveillance of personal data is mostly done without individual consent. This violates people’s privacy and can create a feeling of unnecessary pressure or anxiety. It is important to note that many people want their data to remain private, and they have the right to this, and dataveillance is a certain violation of their right to privacy.
In addition, dataveillance can restrict persons’ freedom and autonomy significantly. For example, when personal information is used to target advertising or manipulate customers’ behavior, people may feel that their choices are limited and that they are not free to make their own decisions. This can hurt trust in technology and individuals’ ability to manage their lives.
Conclusion
One should conclude that surveillance, when organized effectively and without violating citizens’ rights, mainly benefits them because it adds to security, prevents unlawful deprivation of freedom, and prevents some crimes. At the same time, dataveillance mainly hurts society because it can be used to violate human rights or for fraudulent purposes. It is very important to understand the difference between surveillance and data monitoring because only then will it be possible to make the right decisions in people’s interests and achieve positive results for society. Therefore, it is important to protect one’s personal data and try to reduce the amount of information that individuals give to other people or companies.