Data Wear

The use of AI systems that monitor and identify us while we are walking on the streets, out protesting or playing in the park, might have felt like a distant future that is slowly turning into reality. Real estate developers experiment with the use of facial recognition systems to monitor those who walk past their property in central London. Drones were used in Brussels to help enforce the Covid 19 lockdown, or in some countries even read our body temperature while walking to the shops through thermal imaging.

Questions about the social costs of these technologies are often brushed aside as being backward or against progress. Obscuring the political and economic interest behind the turn to surveillance technologies and dismissing opportunities for much needed public debate on its use, from which there is no clear understanding of the long term unintended consequences.

Critical discussions on facial recognition, wifi tracking, and thermal imaging remain confined to a small group of specialized policy-makers, activists and advocates. It is crucial that we democratize discussions on what we want our cities and societies to look like. For this we need to engage and activate people in discussion around the use of technology in the public space by meeting people where they are, unpack complex issues, and offer actionable pathways forward.

To this end we developed the Low Tech Canvas Against High Tech Surveillance. A creative intervention to give people tools for everyday acts of resistance. It offers information and negotiation tactics needed to join the discussion and expose, challenge and transform the ideology and social norms that are enshrined in technology.

The Low Tech Canvas Against High Tech Surveillance

The low tech guides are designed to become a digital explorer in your own city. They are a playful invitation to be daring, creative and question the ubiquitous use of technology in public spaces. Use it and see neighborhoods in a new light while exploring issues around facial recognition, thermal imaging, and Wi-Fi tracking.

Each canvas starts by getting a lay of the land; through small explanations about the specific technology and exercises explorers can spot them in the wild. Once the explorer knows what to look for, the canvas offers small interventions that will allow them to temporarily navigate privacy in their city. Think of face paint to trick facial recognition systems or Faraday bags to block wifi tracking. The canvas ends with ways in which an explorer can co-design their neighborhood, the only long-term strategy to ensure privacy in public spaces.

https://www.datawear.it/diy