Working Group 1 are focussing on the everyday experiences of those living and working in surveillance societies. This includes an analysis of the ways in which surveillance technologies are felt or experienced, the ways in which they are interpreted and understood, and the ways in which individuals in society are aware of, and respond to, greater levels of technologically mediated surveillance. Central to this theme is the perceived divergence between the capabilities of modern surveillance technologies and our (society’s) awareness and understanding of these capabilities. In other words, to what extent are we aware that we are being surveilled, when does this surveillance take place, for what purposes, and what personal information is being collected? Living in this theme relates to the everyday existence of individuals/citizens in modern society and encompasses surveillance practices undertaken in the home, in the workplace, in retail and leisure environments and utilised for the delivery of public services and the mechanisms of democracy. In this respect the Working Group will address the need to develop more refined conceptions of what it is like to live in a surveillance society. The specific subtasks of this thematic focus are to:

• Identify and assess the types, levels and purposes of modern surveillance practices, in a range of environments (the home, workplace, public space, shops, etc), and will examine the interactions between the surveilled and the surveillants. This will help create new knowledge about the extent and intensity of surveillance.
• Identify and assess the awareness of citizens and groups and attitudes with regard to contemporary surveillance practices, and to examine the reasons for current levels of awareness and the prevalence of certain attitudes. In particular, attitudes towards the perceived trade-off between (for example) privacy and security and between security and public trust.
• Examine the extent to which citizens are able, or feel able, to influence the degree to which they are surveilled and the surveillance practices they knowingly participate in. This involves control over personal information and the ways in which citizens adapt their behaviour in order to alter the degree to which they are surveilled.
• Assess the extent to which the transparency delivered by modern surveillance technologies impacts upon perceptions of personal identity, national culture, social trust and the norms of contemporary citizenship.