Location Tracking and Surveillance

Watch

• How China’s Surveillance Is Growing More Invasive | Visual Investigations ↗The New York Times
• Pegasus: the spyware technology that threatens democracy ↗The Guardian
• The NSA and surveillance ... made simple - animation ↗The Guardian

Read

• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power ↗An exhaustive dissection of the novel economic order that profits from the pervasive harvesting and commodification of personal data, including location, fundamentally reshaping market dynamics and individual autonomy.Shoshana Zuboff
• No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State ↗The definitive account of Edward Snowden's revelations, offering an unparalleled look into the vast, often geographically precise, surveillance capabilities of modern intelligence agencies.Glenn Greenwald
• Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed ↗A seminal work illustrating how states historically simplify complex social realities, including spatial arrangements, to render populations legible and controllable, a precursor to modern digital surveillance.James C. Scott
• Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House ↗The foundational theoretical blueprint for a system of constant, unverified observation, elucidating the psychological effects of pervasive, even if unseen, surveillance on individual behaviour.Jeremy Bentham
• Privacy Is Power: Why and How You Should Take Control of Your Data ↗A timely and practical guide for individuals navigating the digital age, arguing for the strategic importance of privacy as a fundamental tool for personal agency against pervasive data collection.Carissa Véliz

Voices to follow

• Shoshana Zuboff ↗Her seminal work dissects the economic logic and societal implications of 'surveillance capitalism', offering a critical framework for understanding data extraction.Professor Emerita, Harvard Business School
• Edward Snowden ↗His revelations exposed the vast scale of government surveillance, sparking global debates on privacy, security, and state power.Whistleblower and privacy advocate
• Zeynep Tufekci ↗She offers incisive analysis on the societal impacts of technology, including the complex interplay of algorithms, data, and surveillance in shaping public discourse and individual freedoms.Sociologist, writer, and academic
• Bruce Schneier ↗A leading voice on cybersecurity and privacy, he provides expert insights into the technical vulnerabilities and policy challenges inherent in modern surveillance systems.Security technologist and author
• Kate Crawford ↗Her work critically examines the political and environmental costs of artificial intelligence, including how AI systems are deployed for monitoring and control, revealing the hidden infrastructure of surveillance.AI researcher and author

Glossary

• CCTV (Closed-Circuit Television)CCTV refers to security cameras that record video and send it to a limited set of monitors, often used for surveillance in public or private spaces. These cameras help monitor activities and deter crime. For example, the cameras you see in shops, at traffic signals, or outside buildings are usually CCTV cameras.
• ConsentConsent means giving permission for something to happen or for someone to do something. In the context of tracking, it means you agree to have your location or data collected. For example, when an app asks if it can "use your location" and you tap "Allow," you are giving your consent.
• CookiesCookies are small text files that websites store on your computer or phone to remember information about you. They help websites remember your preferences, like items in a shopping cart, or track your browsing activity. For example, when you visit an online store and it remembers what you put in your cart even if you close the browser, that's often thanks to a cookie.
• Data PrivacyData privacy is about protecting your personal information and controlling who can access, use, and share it. It means having the right to decide what happens to your data. For example, when you choose not to share your location with a new app, you are exercising your data privacy rights.
• Digital FootprintYour digital footprint is the trail of data you leave behind when you use the internet or digital devices. Every website you visit, every post you make, and every app you use adds to this footprint. For example, your search history, social media posts, and even the apps you download all contribute to your digital footprint.
• GeotaggingGeotagging is the process of adding geographical identification information, like latitude and longitude coordinates, to photos, videos, or other media. This data shows exactly where the content was created. For example, when you take a picture with your phone and it automatically saves the location where you took it, that's geotagging.
• GPS (Global Positioning System)GPS is a satellite-based system that provides exact location and time information anywhere on Earth. Your phone or car uses GPS to show you where you are on a map and help you find directions. For example, when you use Google Maps to navigate to a friend's house, your phone is using GPS.
• Location TrackingLocation tracking means finding out or following where someone or something is in real-time or has been. It uses technology like phone signals or GPS to pinpoint a position. For example, when your parents use an app to see where you are on your way home from school, that's location tracking.
• MetadataMetadata is "data about data." It describes other information, like who created a file, when it was created, and sometimes even where. For example, a photo's metadata might include the camera model, the date and time it was taken, and if geotagging is on, the exact location.
• SurveillanceSurveillance is the close watching of a person, group, or area, often secretly, to gather information about their activities or behavior. It's done to influence, manage, or direct actions. For example, security cameras in a shop are a form of surveillance to prevent theft and monitor customer behavior.

Threads 5

Where this connects to other fields, and why it's worth knowing.

• Memory and Its Failures Psychology

  Forgetting used to be a kind of privacy: people misremembered where you'd been, so your past faded and you could start over. Now your phone logs every step forever, with perfect recall. That permanent trail strips away the natural amnesia that once let anyone quietly escape who they used to be.

• The State & Sovereignty Political Science

  A government can't tax or draft people it can't find. So states forced messy life into readable form: fixed surnames, house numbers, standard weights, maps of every plot of land. A huge chunk of modern life is really administrative eyesight, built so the state could finally read you like a page.

• Norms, Deviance & Control Sociology

  Imagine a prison tower where a guard might be watching, so you behave even when it's empty. That design, the panopticon, controls people through the mere chance of being seen. Location tracking works the same way: just knowing your phone could be logging you quietly nudges you to stay in line.

• The Cold War History

  The GPS that finds your friend's house was invented so the US navy could aim nuclear missiles from hidden submarines. A submarine can't fire straight if it doesn't know exactly where it is. So the thing guiding your food delivery was born to guide warheads.

• Electric Vehicles Technology

  Gas taxes pay for a lot of our roads, but electric cars buy no gas. So governments are eyeing a charge for every mile you drive instead. To bill you per mile, they'd have to track every trip you take.