Ep. 35 : When Does Surveillance Cross a Line? with Karen Levy, Cornell University

Doing Translational Research

Karen Levy has a background in sociology and law and studies the social, legal and ethical implications of technology. She and Chris get into her interest in the employment of surveillance in mundane contexts: the workplace, households and in intimate partner relationships. They discuss when individuals use surveillance on each other as well as when companies watch workers and consumers. They also explore the ways surveillance data can be used to counter injustice on behalf of workers or marginalized populations. Karen Levy is an assistant professor in the Department of Information Science at Cornell University, and associate member of the faculty of Cornell Law School. She researches how law and technology interact to regulate social life, with particular focus on social and organizational aspects of surveillance. Much of Dr. Levy's research analyzes the uses of monitoring for social control in various contexts, from long-haul trucking to intimate relationships. She is also interested in how data collection uniquely impacts, and is contested by, marginalized populations. Doing Translational Research is produced, recorded and edited by Carrie Chalmers, who actually enjoyed that Ulysses comment (Ithaca tie in!).