Surveillance is the monitoring of one party by another unaware party.
A company surveilling an individual and an individual surveilling a company is the same activity, despite one perhaps having potentially greater resources.
I don't buy the claim that the root word meaning "above" means that we should mean that we need another word with a root word meaning "below" given that a so called "sousveiller" could in fact be recording from a place of advantage. (Either physically above a company or given the potential scheduling freedom of a dedicated and compelled freelancer.
Is it sousveillance if one were to write a script logging every available source of one other who's registered a company and is the soul employee of said company? e.g. If some neckbeard "sousveills" every post of a sex worker that's working for a company they registered for their own tax purposes?
Clearly not. The first might be suurveillance or possibly spying, and the second is clearly stalking.
likeclockworkSep 27, 2026, 3:34 AM
It's about power. Not about resources or entity type.
nephihahaSep 27, 2026, 7:34 AM
Sousveillance is not that new a word. I remember seeing it at least twenty years ago.
donkey_brainsSep 27, 2026, 11:51 AM
Damn, that’s so cool. I just learned it today! I love when that happens. Now I have all this reading to do!
CatMustardSep 27, 2026, 9:39 AM
In the case of Meta glasses I'd argue that's still surveillance given that a large and powerful tech corp are in control of the hardware and software.
doginasuitSep 27, 2026, 2:51 AM
This seems like one of those terms you have to explain every time you say it so people understand you aren't just pronouncing it wrong.
Surveillance is the monitoring of one party by another unaware party.
A company surveilling an individual and an individual surveilling a company is the same activity, despite one perhaps having potentially greater resources.
I don't buy the claim that the root word meaning "above" means that we should mean that we need another word with a root word meaning "below" given that a so called "sousveiller" could in fact be recording from a place of advantage. (Either physically above a company or given the potential scheduling freedom of a dedicated and compelled freelancer.
Is it sousveillance if one were to write a script logging every available source of one other who's registered a company and is the soul employee of said company? e.g. If some neckbeard "sousveills" every post of a sex worker that's working for a company they registered for their own tax purposes?
Clearly not. The first might be suurveillance or possibly spying, and the second is clearly stalking.