Abstract: Due to the severity of the pandemic, countries across the world had to accept a lot of sophisticated new technological solutions to keep the pandemic under its grip, which included embracing digital surveillance tools as quick fixes and as policy responses to the crisis. However, the use of ICTs have made it much harder to distinguish between what is considered public and private. Thus, the use of such technologies have raised serious concerns related to mass digital surveillance practices, the outsourcing of expertise or sensitive personal data to private companies, and the potential infringement of citizens’ fundamental rights. States of emergencies, like the coronavirus crisis, tend to warrant an extension of discretionary governmental powers. This can become problematic when they are used as a rationale, or as a pretext to suspend and undermine democratic principles and rights. This paper seeks to investigate the heightened correlation between the emergence of sensory power and surveillance as a means to regulate/control disease, ushering in an era of normalized surveillance, and the slippery slope that it presents.
Keywords: Surveillance, Panopticon, Covid-19, Sensory power, Biopower, Covidiot, Data, Privacy.
Title: Understanding the Covid-19 Pandemic through Foucault,
Author: Diksha Mukerjee, Sang Doma Sherpa, Shilpa Suresh
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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