September 12, 2023

E-Carceration Is the Newest Surveillance Trend Spreading Across the Globe

Truthout -  From the shanty town favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to working-class community housing estates in New Zealand, to the battle-weary streets of Chicago’s South Side, electronic monitors — digital tracking devices that monitor the location and behaviors of people facing increased surveillance by police — have become normalized. Like police cars and bodegas, they are part of the social landscape. While the traditional ankle monitor remains the dominant technology for electronic monitoring (EM), cellphone apps, wristlets and whatever other devices Big Tech comes up with are moving into the marketplace of human tracking. In the era of artificial intelligence, machine learning and global networks, electronic monitoring companies and their political supporters continue to make unfounded promises that electronic monitors will reduce crime and bring peace to violence-torn communities. Despite the lack of evidence that their devices have a positive impact, their usage and capacity continue to expand.

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