Lyon: From Big Brother to Electronic
Ponopticon
“Hey, its ok if no none admits that they stole my 50 dollars from my
purse, there are cameras that will prove who did it”. Today, in this day and
age, I feel like there are millions of cameras that surround us. I feel like
millions of surveillance cameras record, watch and tape our every move. So why
was I so interested in Lyon’s article “From Big Brother to Electronic
Ponopticon” is because of this. I was interested in Lyon’s article because Lyon
provides an analysis of social surveillance that has to do with electronic
surveillance. Lyon provides knowledgeable and important information on our
current dilemma of government digital surveillance. Yes, it’s crazy how we don’t
know if our every move is being recorded or watched. Lyon uses to examples of
how surveillance is a world-wide phenomenon that has been maintained and
increased by mass consumption. The Extent of government surveillance surrounds
us in our everyday lives. However, we don’t know all of the government
surveillance that really surround us every day and that’s the scary and crazy
part. We only know the surveillance cameras that are around us are when we see
them present at places like the malls, at banks at restaurants etc. However, we
can be watched by someone or a surveillance camera that we are not aware of and
that’s the scary part.
Surveillance cameras are important and I agree with Lyon on how the
extent of government surveillance surrounds us in our everyday lives. This can
either be a good thing or a bad thing. I have experiences that I will share
where a surveillance camera is a good thing. One of my experiences that I will
share on how Surveillance cameras are really a good thing is because of an
incident that happened two years ago at my old job at TCF Bank. I was a
supervisor at TCF Bank and this incident happened before Christmas Eve. I
brought gifts at the bank for coworkers, we had a Christmas party and everyone
from management to tellers were working there or in attendance. I had about a
hundred bucks in my purse in which one of them was a 50 dollar bill. We usually
have our purses and coats hung in the back room where we also ate and took our
breaks. We ate, worked, enjoyed our time and everyone left except my teller and
I who stayed to close the branch. I noticed that one of my 50 dollar bills was
gone. I looked everywhere and didn’t find it. I texted all my tellers and
management staff asking if they knew or seen a 50 dollar bill and everyone
responded with a non-suspicious response except one teller. I knew right away
from her response that it was her. I started thinking to myself “how can she
possibly do this knowing this is a bank where there are surveillance cameras
surrounding us”. It didn’t make sense and till this day it doesn’t. I knew it
was her because she called me after 10 minutes asking if I found it, her voice
was nervous and as soon as I mentioned the “surveillance camera” she didn’t say
a word and her voice was shaking. The next day, before I can contact the
regional manager for the surveillance camera crew, she confesses and says it was
an “accident” and thought it was hers because it was on the floor. I told her
no, you just forgot that there was a surveillance camera capturing you stealing
it.
However, surveillance cameras and any type of camera can be a bad thing
at times because we don’t know when we really are being watched. For example, I
am on my laptop right now typing my paper and I don’t know if there is someone
that hacked in and is watching me through my webcam. There are so many stories
that I hear about hackers who can literally watch you through your laptop and
it’s scary when you think about. We go to grocery stores, malls and sometimes
restaurants and see surveillance cameras that are present, but we can’t catch or
don’t know every surveillance camera that is really present. We are not aware if
our every move is being watched or recorded. At the same time, there are some
people who are scared to shoplift at grocery stores or the malls because they
feel like they are being watched by the surveillance cameras when sometimes they
are not. So in a way, it works both ways. Is someone watching you? Scary isn’t
it?
Ponopticon
“Hey, its ok if no none admits that they stole my 50 dollars from my
purse, there are cameras that will prove who did it”. Today, in this day and
age, I feel like there are millions of cameras that surround us. I feel like
millions of surveillance cameras record, watch and tape our every move. So why
was I so interested in Lyon’s article “From Big Brother to Electronic
Ponopticon” is because of this. I was interested in Lyon’s article because Lyon
provides an analysis of social surveillance that has to do with electronic
surveillance. Lyon provides knowledgeable and important information on our
current dilemma of government digital surveillance. Yes, it’s crazy how we don’t
know if our every move is being recorded or watched. Lyon uses to examples of
how surveillance is a world-wide phenomenon that has been maintained and
increased by mass consumption. The Extent of government surveillance surrounds
us in our everyday lives. However, we don’t know all of the government
surveillance that really surround us every day and that’s the scary and crazy
part. We only know the surveillance cameras that are around us are when we see
them present at places like the malls, at banks at restaurants etc. However, we
can be watched by someone or a surveillance camera that we are not aware of and
that’s the scary part.
Surveillance cameras are important and I agree with Lyon on how the
extent of government surveillance surrounds us in our everyday lives. This can
either be a good thing or a bad thing. I have experiences that I will share
where a surveillance camera is a good thing. One of my experiences that I will
share on how Surveillance cameras are really a good thing is because of an
incident that happened two years ago at my old job at TCF Bank. I was a
supervisor at TCF Bank and this incident happened before Christmas Eve. I
brought gifts at the bank for coworkers, we had a Christmas party and everyone
from management to tellers were working there or in attendance. I had about a
hundred bucks in my purse in which one of them was a 50 dollar bill. We usually
have our purses and coats hung in the back room where we also ate and took our
breaks. We ate, worked, enjoyed our time and everyone left except my teller and
I who stayed to close the branch. I noticed that one of my 50 dollar bills was
gone. I looked everywhere and didn’t find it. I texted all my tellers and
management staff asking if they knew or seen a 50 dollar bill and everyone
responded with a non-suspicious response except one teller. I knew right away
from her response that it was her. I started thinking to myself “how can she
possibly do this knowing this is a bank where there are surveillance cameras
surrounding us”. It didn’t make sense and till this day it doesn’t. I knew it
was her because she called me after 10 minutes asking if I found it, her voice
was nervous and as soon as I mentioned the “surveillance camera” she didn’t say
a word and her voice was shaking. The next day, before I can contact the
regional manager for the surveillance camera crew, she confesses and says it was
an “accident” and thought it was hers because it was on the floor. I told her
no, you just forgot that there was a surveillance camera capturing you stealing
it.
However, surveillance cameras and any type of camera can be a bad thing
at times because we don’t know when we really are being watched. For example, I
am on my laptop right now typing my paper and I don’t know if there is someone
that hacked in and is watching me through my webcam. There are so many stories
that I hear about hackers who can literally watch you through your laptop and
it’s scary when you think about. We go to grocery stores, malls and sometimes
restaurants and see surveillance cameras that are present, but we can’t catch or
don’t know every surveillance camera that is really present. We are not aware if
our every move is being watched or recorded. At the same time, there are some
people who are scared to shoplift at grocery stores or the malls because they
feel like they are being watched by the surveillance cameras when sometimes they
are not. So in a way, it works both ways. Is someone watching you? Scary isn’t
it?