Open AccessSmart Security Cameras: The Corporatization of the Surveillant Assemblage
Author(s) -
Yasmin McDowell
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the ijournal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2561-7397
DOI - 10.33137/ijournal.v5i2.34416
Subject(s) - corporatization , panopticon , law enforcement , outsourcing , enforcement , assemblage (archaeology) , private security , business , multinational corporation , politics , computer security , internet privacy , public administration , law , political science , marketing , computer science , finance , ecology , biology
Using a political economy approach, this paper considers how home smart security cameras function as part of the surveillance-industrial complex and strengthen the relationship between law enforcement agencies and multinational technology companies for the benefit of private interests. This dynamic is maintained by the surveilled citizens themselves, who finance the smart security camera industry and participate in a culture of surveillance. The concepts of surveillant assemblage and panoptic surveillance will be used to ground these claims. This paper will reference scholarly articles and news pieces about Amazon Inc.’s Ring doorbell to illustrate two important consequences of the proliferation of smart security cameras: the outsourcing of policing and the shaping of consumer behavior.