Poking the camera's eye: total surveillance awareness.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Citings - Who watches the watchmen?

WHO WATCHES THE watchmen?

One possible answer: We all should. This answer animates World Sousveillance Day (WSD), which took place on December 24. (Sousveillance is a neologism meaning "sight from below" or "undersight").

On that day, citizens all over the nation were supposed to approach public surveillance cameras and aim their own cameras back at them. The idea is that if the cameras can't be eliminated, all of us "below" should at least be keeping our eyes on those "above" who are keeping their eyes on us.

The idea originated with Steve Mann, a University of Toronto computer engineering professor famous for turning himself into a cyborg. As his Web site, wearcam.org, puts it, Mann is "the first person to live in total constant intimate contact with the computer" and "sees the world as images imprinted onto his retina by rays of laser light."

WSD has been picked up by a variety of organizations and individuals, creating a decentralized, Internet-based movement. It is hard to know how many people are participating, but some version of the event has been promoted since 1998.

Reporter Neil Hrab accompanied Mann on his WSD mission in Toronto and wrote about it for reason online. While many WSDers anticipate interference from the guardians of the surveillance cameras, Hrab had a different experience. "No one at...