Communities who initiate the installment of surveillance systems in their community have no control over these systems they have asked for. They desire the security it promises to provide; yet, they lose their privacy rights. Today, the vast majority of surveillance systems and the data they collect is controlled and owned by governments or corporations.
In my research, I explore how the control over the surveillance systems can be allocated to communities. How can we use the surveillance technology not to control people; but have communities use this technology for their own needs, making their environment not only safer and welcoming, but also more opened and democratic.
In order to reach deeper understanding of why so many desire surveillance in their community, and what are their needs. I will use qualitative research methodology, that focuses on ethnographic fieldwork of local community groups who use or consider using surveillance in the public sphere in their neighborhood. Following, I will perform participatory action research (PAR), exploring questions combining theory and practice: and with a group from on the communities, design tools that will be a citizen-operated surveillance system that work for the benefit of its “stakeholders” – the citizens.
With this open collaborative process, that integrates surveillance theory, an understanding of the importance of a public sphere, and participatory practices, I aspire to make the urban space not only safer and welcoming, but also more open and democratic, and create tools and surveillance systems that will answer the security need of the community, but will also leave the control of them in the community’s hands.