At the Digital Doorstep | Data & Society
By Aiha Nguyen, Eve Zelickson
October 21, 2022
October 21, 2022
At the Digital Doorstep | Data & Society
By Aiha Nguyen, Eve Zelickson
October 21, 2022
October 21, 2022
The doorstep has emerged as the new physical locale of consumption — the threshold at which purchased products become personal property. In this transformation, the porch has become a contested space: it is at once private property and, for delivery workers, their workplace. The growing popularity of Ring and other networked doorbell cameras has normalized home and neighborhood surveillance in the name of safety and security. But for delivery drivers, this has meant their work is increasingly surveilled by doorbell cameras and supervised by customers. The result is a collision between the American ideals of private property and the business imperatives of doing a job.
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