Danialle Dube - Final Exam

Positive Aspects of Invasive Technology

As more data is being collected about our daily lives, bringing some of it together can be a positive thing for society. Today, the City of Saginaw is compiling and analyzing code enforcement violations, ownership and rental license information, and crime data to identify areas that are less desirable to live. By using geographic information systems (GIS) to geocode the locations of these properties, we are able to perform spatial analysis to determine the areas of concentration of the most destructive activities and highest crime rates. Currently, one such neighborhood has been identified and a multi-tiered assault is being deployed.

First, the panoptic effect is utilized by informing the public of Shotspotter technology that can identify and locate gunfire. Signs are posted that notify citizens and visitors that the area is under video surveillance. These cameras are also connected with the Shotspotter equipment in order to pan to, locate, and monitor the areas identified having gunfire. Officers are immediately notified and sent to the area decreasing response times. Increasing the surveillance in the neighborhood can lead to a decrease in the number of crimes committed in the area due to fear of being witnessed and prosecuted.

Second, data from the Assessor's Office and Customer Accounting is analyzed including whether the primary residence exemption (PRE) or homestead exemption is claimed, if there is monthly water usage, and the name on the water bill to determine if the property is likely being used as a rental instead as of an owner’s residence. The inspections division then visits the suspected rental properties in the area to determine whether they are in fact rentals, and if so, conducts an inspection to determine if the property is up to code. The owner is notified then that a non-owner occupied license and yearly inspections are required for the property. Failure to comply with this regulation can eventually lead to the property ownership reverting back to the Saginaw County Land Bank and possible sale for redevelopment. This action reduces the number of poorly maintained rentals and helps to increase the quality of life for the occupants.

Lastly, using the global gaze of aerial imagery and GIS data analysis, pockets of code violations have been identified and tickets issued to help clean up the properties. Violations such as not keeping grass cut, having rubbish improperly placed at the road, junk vehicles and using property for other than its intended use, such as having cars parked in the front yard, are being enforced since they all contribute to a decreased sense of value of and in the neighborhood. By fighting this blight, residents are encouraged to maintain their properties since it will contribute to the well-being of the neighborhood and again increase the quality of life.

These three instances of invasive technology can assist the City and residents in rebuilding a neighborhood that had become a slum with improperly maintained homes, high crime rates and little to no curb appeal. Although this project is still in its early stages the benefits of bringing together data, gathering images and video, and creating maps can be seen to serve the needs of society.

Elaine's Final

Positive approach to surveillance gone global

Satellites and new technology have enabled our culture to become more global than ever. In our text, Practices of Looking, the author refers to us as “global citizens.” We are so used to knowing what is happening in the world around us and being under constant surveillance that we hardly even realize that this is new to our generation. Many times what we think we may have done in private is far from private. This has led to some very negative experiences for many and the concerns are valid. However, the shift from small town happenings to global awareness and tracking have helped a few families find children who have been abducted in a world so large that this would not have been possible prior to this global citizens’ era.

The trend of businesses throughout the developed world has been to have security systems that have surveillance cameras in place. Although there are not a lot of statistics available of the success of these systems, common sense and news stories often stand alone in telling the tale. Criminals are often caught because they are videotaped in action. This has to make some criminals think twice, because the fear of getting caught is a strong deterrent. Regardless of whether it has slowed down crime, it is a trend that has exploded. Most businesses have some type of surveillance. As a result, we are constantly being monitored and recorded.

One benefit beyond security and catching criminals is rescuing abducted children. Although it has not helped a ton of families rescue their missing children, it has helped a few. Prior to this trend of surveillance, finding a lost child was primarily objective. The searchers would have to make their best guesses about where to look. Even though there is still a lot of guess work involved in locating lost children, there has been a shift to a more subjective way to search. There are two advances in our global culture that help make the objective search more subjective. The first is the ability to look at the videos of a suspected siting and confirm if it is really the missing child. The second is the ability to broadcast the search into the homes of people everywhere. When there is a confirmed siting, the people in the area can be made aware and help in the search. This positive outcome in the “satellite panopticon” of our ability to observe and be observed everywhere has made life better for at least a handful of families.

The following are examples of missing children who have been found through the assistance of video surveillance and national media attention:

1)      The most recent miracle was the case of Brittany Smith. Her mother was murdered and she was allegedly kidnapped and taken out of her home state, Virginia. December 6 she was seen on camera at a Wal-Mart in California. CNN aired the story. “Recognizing their images from CNN, a San Francisco supermarket clerk alerted police after spotting a Virginia girl and her alleged abductor,” according to police. The girl was found safe and the man with whom she was found was arrested. This girl may not have been so fortunate had authorities not been able to identify her and post alerts in that area.

Police: Missing girl, alleged abductor panhandling before being found

By the CNN Wire Staff

December 13, 2010 11:23 a.m. EST

Surveillance video shows Easley and Smith at the Salem Wal-Mart on Dec. 3

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/10/virginia.missing.child/index.html?iref=allsearch

2)      In 2005, Shasta was kidnapped and missing for seven weeks before she was rescued. She is another fortunate victim who was rescued because of cameras.

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, July 5, 2005

Kidnapped Girl On Surveillance Cam

By Scott Benjamin

Authorities in Idaho say 8-year-old Shasta Groene told a horrifying story of violence and abuse at the hands of convicted sex offender Joseph Duncan. CBS News' John Blackstone reports

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/05/national/main706201.shtml

3)      In October of this year a child was abducted from the yard of her home. The mother was unable to find the truck that belonged to the abductor. However, the truck was taped on a video surveillance camera and through the help of citizen the girl was located and rescued. “A Video Policing surveillance camera captured the vehicle crossing a nearby intersection. More than one hundred police officers, along with sheriff's deputies and highway patrol officers searched through the night. But ultimately at around 6:30 in the morning Victor Perez saw the picture of the pickup on the morning news. He saw the truck pass by his home, ran out, got into his vehicle and gave chase.” http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=7709262

There are over 800 satellites surrounding our planet that advance technology to a new level of surveillance that is almost inconceivable. Through surveillance and other technologies the world has become very global. We have the ability to monitor and keep track of what is happening just about everywhere. These trends have become so much a part of our culture that we barely realize it. What we knew about the world used to be much more objective. Through video and personal experience we have a much more concrete basis for our thinking. Our thoughts and feelings are intertwined with information from around the world through our television in our homes. This awareness has shifted how we experience life. Although the intended use of most surveillance videos is to protect us from criminals or at least help apprehend them after the fact, there beneficial use extends beyond the intent. Satellite technology also had its origins in the protection of citizens. These advances in technology are interwoven into our postmodern culture. Ironically, in a world where the original intent and success of the inventions and use was to minimize crime, these devices and technologies sometimes allow for other invasion type crimes to be committed. However, the examples above show how video surveillance technologies along with the ability from satellite to broadcast those pictures have enabled authorities and citizens to be directly involved in the rescue of abducted children. The trends that have made us “global citizens” have made our world safer and in these cases have given a few families a modern day miracle.

Gina's Final - Global Subject and Global Gaze

The Cheezburger Network is a network of related websites which pull together photos with captions. Mostly these pictures show something funny occurring. In fact, that is the main focus of each of these websites: finding the funny in everyday life and everyday photos. People send in pictures, people vote on which captions are the funniest, and these photos with captions are posted on the main page, much like a post on a blog.

This network of sites is all about the Global Subject and the Global Gaze. The resources the technologies provide are simply funny pictures for people to look at, but they provide much more than that. One example of a good thing that these sites provide is they connect people to each other in a positive way. While the viewer may not know the creator/s of the image personally, it connects both people to each other with laughter, or whatever other reaction the viewer may have. And the creator gets the pleasure of knowing that he or she probably made someone laugh very hard at least once that day. Another good thing these sites do is express a current culture in an extremely current fashion, and also archives such culture. Not only do each of these pictures show what people are thinking about on any given day, but also what a huge number of people are looking at right at that very moment. It catalogs the gaze of people, and the reactions of the people commenting, in real-time.

 However, it also has some drawbacks. For example, one of the sites in this network is called Wedinator. It shows some pictures of some dubious ideas for weddings, sometimes with captions. While many of these pictures can be very funny from an objective standpoint, from a subjective standpoint (the standpoint of the people whose weddings those actually were, or someone who's thinking of doing the same thing for their own wedding perhaps), making fun of such a personal thing is offensive. I'm sure if I had a Star Wars wedding I would be offended to see it made fun of (though to be perfectly honest I would probably expect such derision—it's a super geeky thing to have as the theme of a wedding, and some might consider it tacky). The point is, the photos can very often be offensive without regards to the subjects within them. Also, I'm sure that many photos are used without the owner's permission—although, this may be something that the owners or subjects might not care about, if their photo is used to make something amusing enough to make it alright (take lolcats, for example—the subjects in the photos are unable to complain). Still, it's likely that the photos are used without permission—and there's nothing to stop people from using them, really.

How this technology is likely changing how we view ourselves is just like it says in the book: it's mixing the objective and the subjective; making us see ourselves in other people and other people in ourselves. We see ourselves from the outside and at the same time, see other people's inner workings. In terms of the Cheezburger Network, we're seeing ourselves being made fun of, other people being made fun of, and just generally silly and hilarious everyday things.

Danielle Wright -- Final Exam

A Con Approach to Public Surveillance Technology

http://ddanchev.blogspot.com/2006/06/big-brother-in-restroom.html

http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/97/05/crb97-005.pdf

     One controversial area that relates to Michel Foucault’s vision of the global gaze is the technology and use of public surveillance cameras. By utilizing surveillance cameras, governments are able to keep track of the public’s activities and are thereby able to control and discipline them when necessary. Many businesses and governments are employing these resources with the intention of reducing crime and/or to catch criminals in an illegal act by recording their actions and behavior. From the panopticism point of view in that individuals can always be observed by the guard tower yet don’t always know they’re being watched, the consideration of public surveillance cameras being a violation of one’s Fourth (and First) Amendment rights must be reviewed. Most individuals know that they are being watched when shopping or walking in a public place. It is one thing for a business to place cameras in their place of business and in parking lots with the intention of deterring crime or for a city government to place multiple cameras at an intersection to monitor public traffic; however, are one’s rights in violation if a camera is placed in a position (such as an alleyway) where the actions of an individual in the privacy of their home or backyard is suddenly called into question?

     In a landmark Supreme Court decision, Katz v. United States 389 U.S. (1967), the modern definition of the Fourth Amendment’s “search and seizure” law was defined. The court declared that “what a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is NOT a subject of Fourth Amendment protection, but what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, MAY be constitutionally protected. Generally, a person walking along a public sidewalk or standing in a public park cannot reasonably expect that his activity will be immune from the public eye or from observation by the police.” The Court further defined that in United States v. Knotts 368 U.S. 276, 281-282 (1983), “a person traveling in an automobile on public thoroughfares has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements from one place to another. When that individual traveled over the public streets he voluntarily conveyed to anyone who wanted to look the fact that he was traveling over particular roads in a particular direction, and the fact of his final destination when he exited from public roads onto private property.” It is this reasoning that police are able to record individuals on public roads. The gist of it all is that when an individual is in a public place, they have the expectation that they are being watched and/or recorded. Public surveillance cameras placed in a position where an individual’s private world is being recorded, despite the reason why, is a clear violation of one’s Fourth Amendment right to privacy.

     In the postmodern world, the placement of surveillance cameras has to be questioned. Just because the technology exists does not mean that the institutions in power should execute it in any manner that they deem necessary. The privacy rights of individuals must be protected and guidelines must be incorporated, reviewed, and protected. In theory, cameras have the ability to deter crime, increase public safety, and provide evidence in criminal matters; however, invasion of privacy and the possibility of the image misuse are also viable issues and unfortunately, there are not studies to measure how effective utilizing public surveillance cameras are in the deterrence of crime.