The British newspaper The Guardian has initiated a swarm surveillance campaign against politicians up for election, especially targeting the always spin-sleek Tony Blair, under the catchy name ‘The Blair watch project’.
As a response to the latest move from the master of spin, British PM Tony Blair, and his staff’s new strategy to avoid unplanned press mediated exposure by misdirecting journalists, the British newspaper The Guardian has organized a large-scale mobile phone surveillance campaign targeting prominent politicians. The Guardian simply asks citizens to document the whereabouts of politicians by means of cameras in mobile phones and a blog to upload the pictures. Although the Guardian’s initiative is probably rather symbolically spectacular than of any practical consequences for the outcome of the British election, it is a good example of what we can expect in the near future in terms of civil counter- and swarm-surveillance, i.e. surveillance turned against powerful institutions or companies often by loosely organized citizens or grass roots. Imagine the same means deployed by consumers against ethically dubious companies (coming up!), by a population against invasive military operations or by citizens to politically highlight social problems or systematic injustice. Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blairwatchproject/