The Glass House Effect (or GHE) is the resulting phenomenon brought on by an awareness that one is subject to ubiquitous surveillance. In corporate environments, the transparency is considered a good idea, as it is believed this discourages
corporate crime
In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corpo ...
and other
misfeasance
Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute.
The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the ...
.
The Glass House Effect can cause a sense of pessimism in persons who are subjected to such unrestrained monitoring. In such circumstances, solitude is conspicuously absent, and privacy is considered a ''
thoughtcrime
Thoughtcrime is a word coined by George Orwell in his 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. It describes a person's politically unorthodox thoughts, such as beliefs and doubts that contradict the tenets of Ingsoc (English Socialis ...
''. The messages conveyed to the subject in such an environment usually involve some variation on the notion of
Catch-22
''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-ch ...
, such as:
# There is no place to hide; nor should you want to.
# Any exhibited
avoidance behavior
Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is a Cluster C personality disorder characterized by excessive social anxiety and inhibition, fear of intimacy (despite an intense desire for it), severe feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, and an overre ...
is considered a threat, and an invitation for additional scrutiny.
David Brin
Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and author of science fiction. He has won the Hugo,Surveillance
{{Culture-stub