Professor Joh Publishes Essay on Art and Government Surveillance

Elizabeth Joh has published an essay in Life of the Law on how some artists are using government surveillance in their work and thus shedding light on the ways in which increased surveillance is impacting our lives. For example, one Brooklyn-based designer has created "anti-drone" clothing that thwarts thermal imaging devices, calling attention to the ways in which new technologies are changing our concepts of privacy.

"Enormous technological changes are making it possible for us to be identified, watched, and listened to in ways that were once unimaginable," writes Joh. "What we should do about these changes is difficult because the surveillance is sometimes surreptitious, often complicated to understand, and undetermined with regard to is regulation. Art has the power to question, provoke, and reveal new truths to us. These artists are opening up the conversation about the place of surveillance and the law in our lives to anyone willing to watch and to listen."

Professor Joh's scholarship focuses on criminal procedure and policing, with a special emphasis on DNA evidence, undercover policing, and new surveillance technologies.

Life of the Law

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