Goes both ways

Leicester sculpture
Today I read Fade to Play’s report on a Cory Doctorow lecture about privacy and surveillance in the new media age. This is not a direct note but comes from that blogger’s notes, and it made me think. It goes something like this: ‘We are sleepwalking into a surveillance state (eg CCTV cameras). A CCTV camera only records. Only stops muggers that don’t have good judgement to stop because they are on camera. Parents can track kids with mobile phones and Myspace. Technology can serve us or enslave us.’ But I’m not so sure it’s a simple choice. I think both happen, both are happening simultaneously, but of course we still need to be watchful. Web 2.0 isn’t all a bed of roses.