In Week 4 we explored how surveillance has become a normal part of everyday digital life. In Chapter 6 of Seeing Ourselves Through Technology, Jill Walker Rettberg explains that surveillance today rarely feels forced. Instead, it happens through ordinary technologies such as apps, cameras, and online platforms that constantly collect data about our behavior. These systems quietly track our clicks, searches, locations, and habits, building profiles of us without us fully seeing or controlling how that information is used.

Rettberg describes how these systems create what she calls "data doubles"—digital versions of ourselves built from our online activity. These profiles can shape how companies, institutions, and platforms understand us and make decisions about what we see or how we are treated online. Eli Pariser’s TED Talk on filter bubbles connects to this idea by showing how algorithms personalize information. While personalization can make platforms feel convenient and relevant, it also narrows the information we receive, meaning we may only see content that matches our existing data profile.

The documentary The Invisible Doctrine helps explain why these systems continue to grow. It argues that neoliberal systems place responsibility on individuals rather than platforms, encouraging people to manage and track themselves. Anna Davies shows this clearly with health apps that turn personal wellbeing into a form of constant self‑monitoring. Together these ideas show that surveillance today often feels voluntary. People participate in it not because they are forced to, but because it has been normalized as part of everyday digital life.