Surveillance

Surveillance is close monitoring of behavior.

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Although the word surveillance literally means (in French) "to watch from above" (i.e. a God's-eye view looking down from on-high) the term is often used for all forms of observation, not just visual observation.

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However, the all-seeing eye-in-the-sky is still an icon of surveillance in general.

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The word surveillance is commonly used to describe observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment or other technological means, for example:

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• eavesdropping
• telephone tapping
• directional microphones
• communications interception
• covert listening devices or 'bugs'
• Minox subminiature cameras
• closed-circuit television
• electronic tagging
• military reconnaissance
• Reconnaissance aircraft, e.g. Lockheed U-2
• Reconnaissance satellites
• "trusted" computing devices
• Internet and computer surveillance

However, surveillance also includes simple, relatively low-technology methods such as postal interception, watching from nearby buildings with binoculars or similar and visiting properties in disguise.

Related Topics:
Postal interception - Binoculars

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The term can also be used to describe the monitoring of diseases by epidemiologists.

Related Topics:
Disease - Epidemiologist

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Surveillance: Surveillance, counter-surveillance, inverse surveillance, and sousveillance ►