Resolution resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance. Violations

PURPOSE IS KEY

The purpose of observation determines whether it is surveillance

Huey 9 Laura Huey, prof of sociology, University of Western Ontario, 2009 Surveillance: Power, Problems, and Politics, Sean P. Hier and Josh Greenberg, eds p 221

For Colin Bennett (2005), such an understanding of surveillance is insufficient. Bennett argues that the use of technology to systematically capture and analyze data must be understood in relation to institutional, cultural, and political contexts and goals: an action alone does not constitute surveillance; it does so only in relation to its stated uses and goals. To illustrate this point, Bennett distinguished between the mundane collection and use of his personal data when taking a flight to Toronto and the experience of someone who has been targeted for close observation and special treatment by virtue of his or her name or meal preferences. According to Bennett, then, understanding surveillance as the simple act of watching over – the mother over the child, for example, "trivializes" its meaning, its uses, and the experience of its targets.