Recently, surveillance has become somewhat of a pop-culture fascination. From the Reality TV shows permeating every network's line up to the webcam phenomenon of the late 1990s, surveillance has become more a source of entertainment than ever before. Benjamin Franklin's quote, Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety, has long served to exemplify the American, Big Brother, notion of surveillance: that the government is the main aggressor and seeks to take away privacy and thereby, liberty.
My talk will contrast traditional perceptions of surveillance in American culture with new notions brought forth in the emerging digital economy. The privacy of individuals is being bought from individuals through tangible or intangible rewards and resold as demographic data to the highest bidder. Instead of resisting the reduction of privacy, people are embracing surveillance as a benign improvement of everyday life. If we continue such a trend, will society be better for it, or will ubiquitous surveillance serve to implement Orwell's nightmare in 1984?
Kevin Mahaffey is an Electrical Engineering student at the University of Southern California. He has conducted extensive research regarding the sociological effects of the growth of commercial surveillance in American culture. When not confusing sociology with technology he is the Director of Software Development for Flexilis and is currently developing a few Bluetooth security tools hopefully to be released this year at Defcon. He also writes the occasional article for DailyWireless.com and has 6 years of experience working in commercial internet technology.