Surveillance is a part of modern society that can be understood as a collection of technologies and social practices related to gathering data and information by institutions and organizations in order to produce specialized knowledge of individuals and communities. The aim of these institutional and organizational practices is to identify and classify people into categories to predict and attempt to influence their behavior for various purposes. Although most of us participate in surveillance as a part of everyday life, we do not always do so willingly or without awareness. People often defy surveillance through both outright political protest and also mundane forms of everyday resistance but may also derive pleasure from being observed and watching others. This course, INF440H1 Surveillance & Privacy in Digital Society, is an introduction to these issues and surveys the historical, sociocultural, and political perspectives of surveillance, privacy and identity from the interdisciplinary perspective of Surveillance Studies.
Exclusion: INF2124H
