Asymmetries of Control: Surveillance, Intrusion, and Corporate Theft of Privacy

• NCJ Number: 140113
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1992) Pages: 285-298
• Author(s): W J Einstadter
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 39th annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, held in Berkeley, Calif., in August 1989.

Annotation

This paper examines the asymmetry in relations between the individual actor and the corporation, particularly the impact of corporate use of technologies of surveillance, ostensibly to reduce crime and to increase efficiency.

Abstract

James Coleman (1982) developed a conception of society based on certain asymmetries of relations in daily interactions, by "asymmetries" Coleman refers to differences in the amount of social power that the parties to the interaction can bring to bear on an interaction. He notes that there are two distinct types of actors in society: "natural persons" and "corporate actors." Natural persons are individuals acting in their private capacity as individuals, whereas corporate actors are individuals acting as representatives of organizational or corporate interests. Individuals interact with human corporate actors but also are confronted in ever-increasing number and sophistication with their technological alter egos. These are the devices created to monitor individual activity, whether cameras, sensors, computers, or other forms of technology. Corporate actors justify these devices as necessary to counter the increase in crime and the greater sophistication of the criminal. This paper argues that such surveillance alienates the individual actor from the corporation, which can stimulate motivation to exploit the corporation. The paper also argues that the so-called preventive techniques of the corporation, coupled with other methods of information gathering, constitute an unrecognized from of theft. Such theft requires a reconceptualizing of the current legal concept, so as to protect the individual from corporate predation in this era of the information society. The authors note that recognition of the asymmetry of the corporation's power in relation to the individual is a first step toward organizing countervailing forces to redress the imbalance. 29 references