The Surveillance Self: How “Always-On” Tech Is Changing Who We Are
I tried on Meta’s new smart glasses the other day. I was curious. Impressed. They’re sleek, seamless, and incredibly advanced. Had the style I wanted been in stock, I would’ve bought a pair.
But then I paused. I did a little research. Followed a few threads. And what I found wasn’t just unsettling — it was existential.
Because it’s not just that these glasses can record everything around us. It’s that they feed into an ever-expanding system — an AI-powered memory bank of our collective lives, owned by a company that has already blurred the lines between connection and control.
What happens when a billion tiny moments, movements, and facial expressions are quietly gathered — not just to understand us, but to shape us?
Behind it all is Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of the future: a world where our behaviors, preferences, and even emotional expressions are passively captured, analyzed, and looped into machine learning models designed to influence everything — from what we buy to how we think.
This isn’t just about convenience. It’s about who gets to define the edges of human experience — and whether we’ll even notice those edges shifting.
The Quiet Shift
There’s a shift happening in the background of our lives. You might not hear it — but you can feel it. A subtle pressure. A second-guessing. A dull awareness that someone might be watching.
Not a person. A lens: Smart glasses. Bodycams. Doorbells with facial recognition. Algorithmic tracking.
These tools are being marketed as conveniences. But what they’re quietly reshaping is more personal: our identity. We’re not just being watched. We’re becoming what’s watchable.
The Rise of the Performative Self
When you know there’s a chance you’re being recorded, your behavior subtly shifts. You tidy your voice. You shrink your gestures. You curate your tone.
Psychologists call this self-surveillance — the habit of constantly monitoring how we come across to others.
With surveillance tech always on (or potentially on), we start pre-editing ourselves — not just in public, but in private. We become cautious in our living rooms. Our cars. Our kitchen table arguments.
We can’t be fully present when we’re busy managing perception.
Identity Becomes a Broadcast
Once every moment becomes recordable, every moment also becomes content. This changes how we express grief, joy, anger, awkwardness.
It creates a new internal override: “How will this look later?”
That question is corrosive. It keeps us outside of ourselves, watching ourselves, rather than living from the inside out. It makes us curators instead of participants. PR reps instead of people.
The Emotional Cost of Being Perceived
Being seen is not neutral. In fact, neuroscience tells us that being perceived by others lights up regions of the brain linked to vigilance, self-consciousness, and anxiety.
When this state becomes chronic — as it can in surveillance-saturated environments — we lose access to spontaneity. We become emotionally stiff. Defensive. Exhausted.
Our brains were built for connection, not for being continuously consumed.
When Safety Becomes Control
Surveillance tools are often sold as safety enhancers: “Stay connected. Stay protected. Know what’s happening.” But beneath the surface is something more slippery: control through capture.
Who owns the footage? Who decides what’s fair game? Who gets to say what’s “appropriate”?
When everything can be documented:
And we start policing ourselves before anyone else has to. That’s not freedom. That’s internalized control.
So What Do We Do?
We can’t opt out of modernity. But we can resist becoming avatars of ourselves.
Some possibilities:
Let’s be clear:
Technology can help us extend what it means to be human. But not if it quietly convinces us to edit, filter, or perform our humanity for algorithms and bystanders.
A Final Thought
We won’t tech our way out of this. There’s no off-switch for what’s already been captured.
But awareness still matters. So does refusal. And maybe — just maybe — so does the courage to be fully human in a world trying to digitize everything we are.
Because the future isn’t just about what technology can see. It’s about what we lose when we’re never unobserved.
Originally published on Medium as Always On: How Surveillance Tech Is Shaping Who We Think We Are, part of the series The World, Rewired.
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2moI have so many thoughts on this topic. I’ll share two. On the one hand, any form of surveillance can be misused, seen as intrusive, and even altered. On the other hand, the list of potential benefits is longer than my arm. For now, I’m not opposed to the utilization of it, probably because I haven’t experienced any downside. I rather like the idea of technology being used to protect children or to validate what actually happened during a crime. Turn on the news any day now and you’ll see evidence of something that wouldn’t have been captured previously. Criminals should be very worried about the expansion of this technology. I’m ok with that.
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2moTEDx Speaker | Emergenetics Master Associate | Global Talent Management | Author | ICF Certified Coach
2mo💡 Great insight Amy, important to always be aware, as the consumer and the bystanders, about the the shifts and changes in technology. This includes personal ownership of usability and the potential downstream affects if not used appropriately.
Transforming People & Organizations Through Learning | Driving Organizational Growth Through Talent Development & Innovative Solutions
2moThe future of technology puts a whole new spin on the Hawthorne Effect. Thanks for sharing, Amy!
Career Ownership Coach | Career Development | Entrepreneurship | Coaching | Possibilities
2moThis is such an important and timely reflection — but I also wonder if the story isn’t entirely dystopian. Could “always-on” tech also prompt us to be more intentional with how we show up? If we’re aware that our actions might be seen or replayed, maybe we choose empathy more often. It’s a double-edged sword, for sure — but not without potential for positive shifts in self-awareness and accountability. I'm intrigued to see how others are navigating this in their lives as well!