Long-term Prescription? Digital Surveillance is Here to Stay

Abstract

An emerging literature has shown concerns about the impact of the
pandemic on the proliferation of digital surveillance. Contributing to these
debates, in this paper we demonstrate how the pandemic facilitates digital
surveillance in three ways: (1) By shifting everyday communication to digital
means it contributes to the generation of extensive amounts of data
susceptible to surveillance. (2) It motivates the development of new digital
surveillance tools. (3) The pandemic serves as a perfect justification for
governments to prolong digital surveillance. We provide empirical
anecdotes for these three effects by examining reports by the Global Digital
Policy Incubator at Stanford University. Building on our argument, we
conclude that we might be on the verge of a dangerous normalization of
digital surveillance. Thus, we call on scholars to consider the full effects of
public health crises on politics and suggest scrutinizing sources of digital
data and the complex relationships between the state, corporate actors,
and the sub-contractors behind digital surveillance.