Thousands of homes, workplaces and other public places are monitored in real-time from anywhere in the world through a Russian website that accesses webcams via Wi-Fi. Thousands of links to images from camcorders, surveillance cameras, and even baby care monitors in dozens of countries are available on the Insecam.com website At the side of the display, you can get the exact location of people, thanks to Google technology which offers the coordinates in Google Maps. To track people is very easy, it is enough to access the map to find the address, take pictures of the house. In the diversity of shots shown, there are bedrooms, people lying in the playroom, pets, offices, and a variety of employees in various work areas.
[excerpt] States of Violence: Geopolitics, Law, Technology Goldie Osuri & Vijay Devadas University of Warwick & University of Otago (2014)
The production of violence that Pugliese discusses in reference to the atrocities at Guantanamo, U.S. policy, drone attacks, prisoners, does not, in any way whatsoever, keep violence within the purview of the state or within the auspices of state institutions such as the military, police, etc. Violence is much more civil-ised and has, more importantly, since September 11, been normalised as part of everyday civilian life—shopping centres, airports, parks, monuments, and all other public spaces are now much more heavily guarded and surveilled. Citizens are asked to report suspicious behaviours and actions, citizens are encouraged to spy on their neighbours, and CCTVs are ever so dominant. The recomposing of everyday life around potential and possible threats and violence produces a climate where security becomes the organising rationale through which everyday life is both regulated and conducted. In a perverse way, the drone attacks that take place in the Global South, which kill indiscriminately while claiming to be precise, take place in our names: mine, ours, yours, theirs. (Osuri & Devadas, 2014. p.5)
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