"Surveillance involves the observation, recording and categorization of information about people, processes and institutions."
Dataveillance, to put it simply, is the same but applying it to technology, perhaps more specifically to data over the internet. We can often be quite foolish with our information online, letting third parties view us, sending out our credit card details for an offer that seems 'too good to be true', and that's' quite often the case. Sometimes we think we're safe because we have the latest security upgrade and that means we're secure or we may even know not to open a suspicious email from an unknown source, but our information is never 100% guarded. Many of the websites that we trust share out our personal details to various corporations, Facebook is one of them. Though we can hide our likes and interests on Facebook from other users, when you like or join a group or page, you are allowing Facebook to send information about your likes to other companies who then advertise products you will be interested in. I, for instance, have joined various tennis groups, and so get many offers for match tickets, club membership, rackets, balls and tennis clothing. Though I don't approve of everyone on the web knowing my personal interests and hobbies, I do like to glance at these tennis websites so I put up with them, as we all do.
On the whole, dataveillance is necessary. Take the police's approach to Facebook, in many parts of the country the police are using Facebook to fight and prevent crime, you can even join a police group on Facebook. But with this and all the CCTV cameras around, there is always that fear that... 'Big Brother is watching you!'
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