Started in 2019 by Cristina Plamadeala, PhD, the aim of our Thinktank is to increase awareness of the dossierveillance phenomenon in hospitals, workplace and other institutional settings in today's surveillance societies and foster research with policy implications. We also work with government agencies around the world to increase awareness of this phenomenon with the goal of driving awareness and promoting understanding of dossierveillance. By providing insights and fostering dialogues, we aim to shape policies and practices that ensure accountability while protecting individual rights.
Our Thinktank is also a hub for researchers and policymakers, encouraging interdisciplinary studies that address the implications of surveillance across various sectors. Through our initiatives, we seek to build a knowledge base that influences meaningful change and empowers institutions to adopt ethical practices.
Dossierveillance refers to a form of self-surveillance centered on files, paper-based or digital (real or imagined), that influence individuals' behavior or willingness to disclose information.
Impact
These files, real or imagined, hold the potential to be interpreted in ways that could harm the individual, fostering fear or reluctance to disclose information.
Significance
This phenomenon has implications for personal privacy, institutional practices, and public policy.
Our focus
Institutional Non-Deliberate Dossierveillance
Systematic creation of records on individuals in neo-liberal societies by institutions such as hospitals and workplace settings
Centralized Non-Deliberate Dossierveillance
Systematic creation of records on individuals in by big technological companies and governmental agencies (or both)
Organizations intentionally use records as tools of oppression. Files become instruments for targeted control within institutional frameworks.
Multi-Layered (all regime types)
May combine elements of all types of dossierveillance. Creates complex webs of surveillance across different societal domains.
Our Mission
Our mission focuses on the unintentional harm caused by systemic inefficiencies in record-keeping concerning Institutional non-deliberate dossierveillance. Unlike deliberate surveillance in authoritarian regimes, these practices require the following intervention strategies:
Increase Awareness
Highlighting institutional non-deliberate dossierveillance in neo-liberal societies.
Foster Research
Examining how record-keeping creates fear in workplaces and healthcare systems and fuels dossierveillance.
Influence Policy
Developing frameworks to mitigate the negative impacts of dossierveillance on individuals and institutions.
Advocate Change
Working to transform how systems and institutions manage personal information.