Sousveillance is the recording of an activity by a participant in the activity, typically by way of small wearable or portable personal technologies.

It also denotes bringing the camera or other means of observation down to human level, either physically by mounting cameras on people rather than on buildings, or hierarchically ordinary people doing the watching, rather than higher authorities or architectures doing the watching.

I always found the idea of Souveillance intriguing. With the drastic advancement of imaging technology, the means in which people are required to have a video recording device has been reducing. In the past, to own a camera means having to buy industry level equipment that is not only bulky but also very costly. Now cameras are conveniently installed into phones, making it very increasingly easy for people to document the world around them, thus leading to the rise in souveillance.

Ironically, the rise in souveillance seems to also bring a rise in surveillance. With everyone wielding camera’s around constantly, people also seem less likely to commit crimes due to the increased potential of it being documented. In Singapore’s case, I think one of the most common examples would be STOMP, the citizen journalism site. Especially when it comes to petty crimes, most people refrain from committing them in the fear of being “Stomped”.

Given the advent of social media, it has also become increasingly common for people to desire to document their lives on the internet. People have also started to get more comfortable being in front of cameras and broadcasting information about themselves. Thus, the souveillance has instead become more of an integrated aspect of life and in some cases( such as Vines and Instagram stories) an entertainment artform rather than a hinderance to privacy.