World Sousveillance Day - Historical Interpretations

Historical Interpretations

December 24 has been designated as World Sousveillance Day. The choice for this day stems from the historical meaning of the celebration of Jesus Christ's birthday, and the reality of the census order by Herod. The idea of a census touches upon the idea of each citizen accounted for and taxed. In contemporary society the idea of census is converging with the idea of surveillance of consumer behavior. In fact, a one year economic cycle revolves around the gift buying and present giving for Christmas that has become part of the Western culture. Increasingly the way we purchase things involves credit cards, which in turn form a system of merchant monitoring in marketing to consumers. Unfortunately, privacy has eroded as marketing and advertising has created a form of continuous subconscious messages targeted at buyers via data from surveillance systems.