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Article
Irresistible bargains: Navigating the surveillance society
First Monday (2017)
  • Robert M Pallitto
Abstract
Agents in contemporary societies are faced continually with choices regarding engagement with technological artifacts. They can choose to engage or decline engagement after considering the costs and benefits in each case. However, certain aspects of the surveillance society may be irresistible in a number of ways, so that refusal to engage with them is not a realistic option. The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), particularly as embedded in “smart city” initiatives, helps to make surveillance technologies potentially irresistible. After laying the conceptual groundwork for discussing irresistible bargains, this essay offers a two-part normative critique, focusing on the asymmetrical power relations engendered by smart cities as well as harms inflicted on the self.
Keywords
  • technology,
  • surveillance,
  • smart cities,
  • Internet of Things,
  • bargaining,
  • social contract,
  • self,
  • data doubles,
  • data brokers,
  • information sharing
Publication Date
2017
Citation Information
Robert M Pallitto. "Irresistible bargains: Navigating the surveillance society" First Monday Vol. 23 Iss. 2 (2017)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert_pallitto/18/