Types Of Surveillance

Surveillance is the act of overlooking people or groups of people while they go about daily tasks. Surveillance can be either out in the open (with friendly or not so friendly reminders that people are being watched) or in secret. Surveillance has remained an important part of world history. Sun Tzu wrote a book over 2,500 years ago known as The Art of War, which discusses how spies should be utilized against enemy forces. In modern times, surveillance has now grown into a much broader and more sophisticated field. Surveillance can be operated via computer now to watch various persons or places.

Counter surveillance is the act of preventing surveillance or simply making it more cumbersome. Counter surveillance involved evading spies and communicating in code or secretly, before the innovations of the computer came into play. With new innovations; the Internet, the increase of technology in electronics and computer databases, counter surveillance has increased in scope and complexity. Counter surveillance now includes the knowledge of everything from simply deleting a computer file to cover tracks or becoming a direct target for advertising agencies.

Inverse surveillance is the act of reversing surveillance, i.e. citizens photographing law enforcement officers, consumers photographing store owners, and passengers photographing public transportation vehicles that have surveillance cameras installed. An infamous instance is George Haliday's recording of the Rodney King brutality. Inverse surveillance usually attempts to make their findings available to the general public, unlike normal surveillance which in turn tries to keep their findings in secret.

Sousveillance (a term created from a University of Toronto professor named Steve Mann) utilizes the same principles as inverse surveillance except it records a person or persons committing the act while the recorder is present during the act. Microsoft, Nokia, Hewlett Packard, and various other companies have started to produce programs and equipment such as Microsoft's Continuous Archival and Recording of Personal Experience software. Large companies such as these are evidence that the market for sousvelliance is growing.

Clinical surveillance is the act of monitoring activities which impact the general health of the public. For example, chronic or infectious diseases in a hospital or doctor's office. Clinical surveillance is increasingly being utilized to make aware public policy on patient needs and resources. Privacy issues may come about however as more information from these systems is obtained. Patient centeredness is held up by equiveillance in the clinical settings. Equiveillance relies on a balance of surveillance and sousveillance.

The state still has the largest control over surveillance and utilizes the most powerful equipment. Since they are enabled to by the law, their level of surveillance has increased. The usage of computers now allow them to draw together personal records and profiles on practically anyone. Large companies and businesses utilize forms of 'passive' surveillance for their employees. They primarily use these methods as a means to watch over the general staff and monitor public relations. This helps them keep an eye on company uprisings and groups who wish to unionize within their facilities. Some companies use the information gathered to sell to other companies, law enforcement agencies, or other governed agencies. The information gathered is in turn used to market or maintain a profile on the person or persons involved. Personal information is being obtained by smaller companies or individuals. Most of this is for harmless purposes, but increasingly criminal misuse of personal information is occurring. For example, a person obtaining a credit card number via the internet.