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1 – 10 of 438
Article
Publication date: 16 November 2020

Delia Langstone

This paper argues that this animal surveillance has the potential for considerable function creep going far outside the scheme's original objectives and acts as a conduit for more…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper argues that this animal surveillance has the potential for considerable function creep going far outside the scheme's original objectives and acts as a conduit for more problematic surveillance of humans. This results in social sorting of people with subsequent unforeseen consequences leading to discrimination and curtailment of freedoms for both animals and their owners. Ultimately this opens people up to further intrusive targeting by commercial interests and, more alarmingly, scrutiny from law enforcement agencies.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study examining an initiative involving the collection of canine DNA sources data from publicly available Cabinet, Select Committee and Scrutiny Committee records from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD). It also draws on news media sources, publicity material from the company running the scheme and from this and other local authorities. Methods include analysis of documents, semiotic and discourse analysis.

Findings

This paper highlights the importance of animals to surveillance studies and examines the extent to which animals are a part of the surveillant assemblage in their own right. It also demonstrates how nonhuman animals extend the reach of the surveillant assemblage.

Social implications

The scheme was called a badge of considerate dog ownership, yet it is one that can be franchised to tie up with diverse income streams being described as advantageous in the age of austerity. In 2017, it was reported that this scheme was to be rolled out in other areas and was moving from being voluntary to being mandatory with the enforcement of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs). These have been described as “geographically defined ASBOS” that have come into force under the Anti-social Behaviour and Policing Act (2014); they often work to criminalise activities that were not previously considered illegal.

Originality/value

In the theorising of surveillance, animals have been largely overlooked. Epidemiological studies proliferate, yet the role of animals in many aspects of everyday surveillance has been neglected.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 41 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 9 December 2021

Abstract

Details

Ethical Issues in Covert, Security and Surveillance Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-414-4

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 9 December 2021

Alfonso Alfonsi and Maresa Berliri

This chapter, based on a sociological approach, addresses the ethical issues of surveillance research from the perspective of the profound transformations that science and…

Abstract

This chapter, based on a sociological approach, addresses the ethical issues of surveillance research from the perspective of the profound transformations that science and innovation are undergoing, as part of a broader shift from modern to post-modern society, affecting also other major social institutions (such as government, religion, family, and public administration). The change occurring in the science and technology system is characterised by diminishing authority, uncertainty about internal mechanisms and standards, and a declining and increasingly difficult access to resources. Such changes, also related to globalisation and new digital technologies, have transformed the way research is conducted and disseminated. Research is now more open and its results more easily accessible to citizens.

Scientific research is also put under increased public scrutiny, while, at the same time, public distrust and disaffection towards science is rising. In such a context, it is more important than ever to make sure that research activities are not compromised by fraudulent and unethical practices. The legitimate expectations of citizens to enjoy their rights, including the ability to protect their private sphere, are growing. Scientific and technological development is deeply interrelated with the widespread awareness of these rights and the possibility of exercising them, but it produces also new risks, while a widespread sense of insecurity increases. The digital revolution, while improving people’s quality of life, offers at the same time new opportunities for crime and terrorism, which in turn has produced a demand to strengthen security systems through increasingly advanced and intrusive surveillance technologies. Misconduct in the field of surveillance may not only undermine the quality of research, but also further impair society’s trust in research and science as well as in the State and its institutions.

Details

Ethical Issues in Covert, Security and Surveillance Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-414-4

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 July 2022

Cecilia Hansen Löfstrand and Christel Backman

The authors set out to show how key private security industry actors in Sweden establish body-worn cameras (BWCs) as a tool to protect private security officers from the public…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors set out to show how key private security industry actors in Sweden establish body-worn cameras (BWCs) as a tool to protect private security officers from the public the officers police and to improve the work environment of the officers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with key personnel involved in the implementation of BWCs. The authors' analysis focused on delineating recurrent moral stories and affirmative environments to show how BWC use was made legitimate as a work environment tool.

Findings

The authors show how BWC use by private security officers patrolling public spaces in Sweden is legitimized by four organizational narratives: (1) the vulnerable security officer and the caring employer, (2) defenders of protective regulation, (3) moral selves and morally dubious others and (4) function creep and moral guardians. The authors explain how such organizational narratives are key to establishing and legitimizing the use of BWCs as a tool to improve the work environment of private security guards, and how certain narrative environments promote such organizational narratives in Sweden to improve the work environment of private security guards.

Originality/value

The authors' findings in this article add to a small but growing literature on BWC use in policing outside of the USA and the UK as well as to the hitherto very limited research from the work environment and managerial perspectives. The authors illustrate the importance of organizational narratives and narrative environments for understanding organizational change involving legitimation of new technologies.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 December 2001

Kirstie S. Ball

2171

Abstract

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2008

Riikka Vuokko

The purpose of this paper is to explore how surveillance facilitates new power relationships.

1587

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how surveillance facilitates new power relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

This longitudinal qualitative study is predicated on observations of the home care workers interacting with their managers and clients. The emerging picture was complemented with interviews of the participants. The home care workers were chosen as being crucial in the construction of new everyday relationships, and their interpretations were given most value in presenting how surveillance and monitoring relationships are constructed as embedded mundane practices and as emerging from practical needs.

Findings

The paper discusses an implementation and use case of surveillance capable technology in a social home care setting. The findings suggest discrepancy of how surveillance is being interpreted by different participants depending on their positioning in the context of use.

Originality/value

The study presents a case study where surveillance issues emerge not only at the workplace but also in the domestic sphere. The paper explores the workers' role in defining surveillance at the workplace, and questions the limits of legitimate surveillance in the social care context concerning vulnerable citizens as clients.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

Executive summary
Publication date: 30 April 2020

INTERNATIONAL: Surveillance fears will rise

Details

DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES252329

ISSN: 2633-304X

Keywords

Geographic
Topical
Article
Publication date: 2 September 2014

Ardis Storm-Mathisen

This article aims to discuss challenges to Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)-based services from a user perspective located within sociology, anthropology and science and…

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to discuss challenges to Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)-based services from a user perspective located within sociology, anthropology and science and technology studies.

Design/methodology/approach

Two cases of toll/ticketing RFID technologies are explored: the mature AutoPASS (tolling on public roads) and the newly implemented Flexus/Ruter Travelcard (public transport) in Norway. A methodologically triangulation of qualitative data is applied to trace the history of RFID implementation, and to compare the benefits proclaimed by suppliers with the hands-on experience of users.

Findings

The RFID benefits proclaimed by suppliers were, to a large extent, shared by users in the case of AutoPASS, but to a lesser extent in the case of Flexus/Ruter Travelcard. The cases illustrate that RFID applications are heterogeneous products with different levels of maturity and complexity, applied to fields and services with varied user-groups, functional requirements and privacy concerns. Vital to the success of RFID-based services is good management, compliance with Data Protection Regulations and providing user’s an experience of greater ease-of use and added-value in their everyday lives in comparison to previous systems.

Practical implications

Future research should broaden perspectives and methodologies to better grasp the complex interplay among RFID applications, users and the environment. This entails moving beyond a focus on discursive adoption to ethnographic studies of appropriation and how technology affects social practice.

Originality/value

RFID is undergoing an extremely expansive usability phase – commercially and socially. Research on RFID is scare and fragmented with few contributions from social science. Studies that privilege user perspectives tend to address the needs and concerns of business rather than of users.

Details

info, vol. 16 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6697

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4179

Content available
Article
Publication date: 24 July 2007

Mike Freeman

107

Abstract

Details

New Library World, vol. 108 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

Keywords

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