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  • New Perspectives Symposium: Inventing the Surveillance Society

New Perspectives Symposium: Inventing the Surveillance Society

December 8, 2014

In October 2013, the Lemelson Center hosted this symposium that brought together scholars, inventors, policymakers, members of the media, and the public to explore the role of invention in a world where our actions (and transactions) are constantly monitored.

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We are being watched. When we enter a building, place a phone call, swipe a credit card, or visit a website, our actions are observed, recorded, and often analyzed by commercial and government entities. Surveillance technologies are omnipresent—a fact underscored by the Boston Marathon bombing dragnet and the revelations of widespread domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency. We live in a “surveillance society” driven by a range of innovations, from closed-circuit TV cameras to sophisticated data mining algorithms. How did our surveillance society emerge, and what is the effect of ubiquitous surveillance on our everyday lives?

If you missed the symposium, you can watch the archived video stream and view photos from the day. 

Part of the Lemelson Center's New Perspectives on Invention and Innovation symposia series that increases public understanding of innovation and technology by looking at the role of invention in American history.

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Inventing the Surveillance Society symposium program

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Logo for Inventing the Surveillance Society symposium, picturing a pole-mounted CCTV.
Symposia & Conferences

Inventing the Surveillance Society

Our annual symposium will discuss our surveillance society—but in a different way than what you typically see on the 24-hour news cycle.

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