Does Surveillance Alter our Behaviour?
By: Tom Stevenson
Tags: Society, Psychology, Surveillance, Philosophy, Politics

Freedom

Whether we think we have it or not, none of us truly possesses freedom. We are free to do as we please, but only within the constraints of the law. If I objected to my neighbour having a better car than me, I am not within rights to go and take it. We are governed by laws which preclude us from doing so.

Thankfully, the majority of us agree that stealing from your neighbour is morally bankrupt. As such, we do not feel as if this impinges upon our freedom because it is an act we would not countenance. We are happy to be constrained by the law in this manner. In fact, it is quite comforting, as it allows us to live our lives with a certain degree of security.

The power of the law is all-encompassing, but the majority are content with it. It is explicit in what is allowed and what isn’t. If we feel that the law has become outdated in any way shape or form, we are free to challenge it and debate in our parliaments and legal processes whether they need to be reformed or not.

As long as the law remains just, honest and clear in the power it exerts over us, we are happy to consent to it. We also not feel that it constrains our freedom when we do so.

While we may be free in this sense, we are not truly free from the apparatus of the state. In the modern day, our movements are more carefully scrutinised than ever before.

In the UK, it is estimated that there are 1.85 million CCTV cameras operating in the country. With a population of around 60 million, that’s one camera for every 32 people. Of those 1.85 million cameras, at least 51,600 of them are operated by local authorities.

While this may not be an issue for the majority of us, it does raise some important questions. Do we need to be monitored so closely? What exactly are these cameras capturing on a day-to-day basis? Should I be worried about mass surveillance?

The common argument is that if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear from increased surveillance. While this sounds logical on the surface, it is only true to an extent. Mass surveillance of this kind invokes images of George Orwell’s famous novel, 1984, where Big Brother is an omnipresent presence in society.

Nearly every orifice of public life is riddled with cameras. The only place to escape the constant surveillance is to head out into the countryside. Even then, there is still the fear of being watched. Orwell describes the spectre of surveillance in his novel as such:

“There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment… you had to live… in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinised.”

We are a long way from society mimicking the worst of the excesses of Big Brother, but we are creeping ever closer. Constant surveillance does have an impact on our freedom, whether we think it does or not. If you walk past a bank of cameras or spot yourself being filmed, you are likely to alter your behaviour.

When this happens our minds no longer become a place of freedom, but they become a prison. We may not be being watched by these cameras, but because we feel like we are, our behaviour changes as a result.

Nowhere was this was more evident than in the prison known as the Panopticon.