This article explores the growing phenomenon of doorbell cameras in suburban areas, examining their impact on privacy, security, and social interactions. The author raises concerns about the normalization of surveillance, the erosion of trust, and the potential for harm, particularly for young people.
Sun 9 Feb 2025 09.00 CEThere once the suburbs were characterised by net curtains and the drone of lawn mowers, now they are defined by Ring doorbells. An unsleeping gaze is fixed on our gnomes and driveways, our children walking home and our midday deliveries. The houses have eyes now.
I feel like the last person alive to remain disturbed by the many ways we continue to welcome surveillance into our domestic lives.
An aside, I guess: I can’t talk about Amazon and suburban delivery culture without quickly meandering into a subject I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, which is the encroaching horror of our reliance upon delivery apps.
In 2019, Refuge reported that 72% of women accessing its services said they had been subjected to “technology-facilitated abuse”, and warned that the growing use of camera doorbells and smart speakers can provide perpetrators with more tools to harm victims. They’re an effective method of coercive control, for monitoring, spying and withholding power.
Social Commentary SURVEILLANCE PRIVACY TECHNOLOGY SOCIAL IMPACT YOUTH
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