Private security

Being under surveillance changes our behavior (and not for the better)

As surveillance become increasingly intrusive and sophisticated, so do the effects of potentially being watched. “This kind of creeping surveillance showing up everywhere has the potential to cause some psychological issues as the ability to put up healthy boundaries and decide what to share disappear,” she said. Case in point: studies have shown that surveillance has negative effects — reducing creativity, increasing stress, and making subjects feel more threatened. It’s even being used in the bedroom in an attempt to catch cheating spouses, according to a 2013 study at the University of California, Irvine.

Still, the effects of being watched, or having the sense you could be seen at any time, aren’t all bad. “The Hawthorne Effect” was first coined by Harvard researchers in the 1920s after a study showed employees increased productivity in the workplace when they knew they were being watched. Since then, Cameras have been shown to reduce crime by 51% when used in parking lots, and the incidence of speeding by 65% and up to 44% for fatal car accidents. When used by police officers, body cameras reduced the use of force by officers by 60% and citizen complaints by 88%.