This was before the proliferation of social media and smartphones.
In spite of revelations of mass NSA surveillance of Americans, most of us freely provide our personal information (sometimes seriously compromising!) and images with the powerful combination of smartphones and social media - who needs to spy?
We are beginning to be taught about cybersecurity and how to keep our own devices free from spying and compromise but many of us do not bother. The ubiquitous surveillance camera has naturalized the experience of being observed by unknown watchers. Yes, cameras have helped after a crime or terrorist event, but they cannot actually stop crime or terrorism.
Most of our surveillance is for commercial benefit. I once counted 40 cameras that I could see as I waited to check out at a local Walmart.
Here in RVA, the Richmond City Police recently spent an undisclosed amount on a surveillance system to keep an eye on an abandoned building - the old Vepco hydroelectric plant on Belle Isle (this is in addition to their surveillance plane that patrols the city, especially in the Texas Beach area).
I am assured by a sensible source that the cameras are necessary: they have prevented crimes and "possibly" even prevented a murder. All well-and-good if it were that simple, but how do we determine when crime is prevented? Does the video show the beginning of the act, then the criminals glancing up and leaving? If not, prevention claims are simply a guess.
So, in 2016, thirteen years after my original essay we still have scripted "reality" shows but we are also now socially surveilling ourselves. And Big Brother is watching now more than ever. Watch the documentary Citizen Four sometime for some eye-opening revelations.
Now more than ever, we must never cease to ask the question the Roman poet Juvenal asked in one of his satires: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? or
Who's Watching The Watchers?
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