Reflection:
This was the task that I found to be the most interesting and has had the biggest impact on me.
We were asked to split up and travel around Lincon city center, taking photographic evidence of any type of surveillance that we encountered. Prior to this task, I only ever considered CCTV as the main type of surveillance within city centers with its main function to control crime, however the more places we visited, the more I became aware of just how many other types of surveillance there are and considered different reasons to why they were used other than to record evidence and punish. These included; signposts/screens, mirrors, mobile apps, pin codes, store loyalty cards and the public. These were used to not just stop the deviant behavior from taking place, but to understand people; their likes, dislikes, what environments they spent most of their time at, shopping behavior and furthermore which also enables stores and institutions to provide a better service to their users.
To illustrate our findings, we uploaded our images onto Twitter via #CMP3Privcy, received the image’s link and then used ‘Odyssey’ to display our images onto a map of Lincoln to show where we traveled and what we found. This was my first time using this software, however, I found it insightful as I have never used a form of coding before but now I’ve had some experience with it, I feel a little more confident to use it again for future projects.
Evaluation:
Looking back at the different slides that I have produced, I believe that I have fulfilled the brief of this task. Not only have I created a piece of work using different platforms of media, such as Twitter, mobile apps, phone settings and Odyssey, but I now acknowledge how they all interconnect with one another to surveil us which I feel was the main objective of this task. I also am more aware of the different types of surveillance that takes place throughout the city and realise that not everything operated by CCTV and digital technology, specifically used to capture criminal activity but to help gain a more accurate understanding of each individual for business and consumer purposes. In addition to this, I understand that digital surveillance may not always be the most effective way to control behavior as individuals feel a disconnection between the virtual and the real, and feel more uneasy around the physical judgment of the public. This also relates to the use of social media. Whilst we were posting our photos onto Twitter with the location settings on as well as hashtagging, we exposed our whereabouts with the whole world and therefore could be surveilled unknowingly, which seems to not affect us.
In conclusion, I have learned a great deal from this task in terms of manipulating new software but also learning about the digital culture that we now inhabit and how connectivity affects our everyday activity.