Even When Closely Watched, Surveillance Is Easy to Misinterpret ⇥ nytimes.com

Trevor Timm, writing for the New York Times about what it was like to be on the other side when his wife, Kashmir Hill, surveilled him using location beacons:

Despite what some readers said in the comments section of the article and on social media, I have a trusting wife, and I was happy to play a small role in highlighting the privacy implications of emerging technology. But when I heard and saw all of these misinterpretations about my day, I couldn’t help but think of all the people who might be surveilled without their consent, whether it’s by a spouse, an employer or law enforcement.

Timm connects Hill’s mild confusion about his day to the U.S. military’s misinterpretation of video feeds last year when they killed ten civilians — including seven children and Zemari Ahmadi, an aid worker — in a drone strike. Clearly, these are not directly comparable events, but there are echoes in a failure to correctly understand surveillance.