Sharing the surveillance state

This feedback on the experience, is part of the sharing service application. As well as managing all the booking and payments, it provides statistics on the attributes of those providing the utility and on those wanting to use it. Getting a poor review can seriously affect the desirability of the person wanting to borrow and the reputation of the resource provider. The review is the stick and carrot that makes the whole system work.

While the reviews are added by real people, some attributes like response times and cancellations in Airbnb are measured automatically. Hosts complain that the inflexibility of the rules and the comments of reviewers are tyrannical because correcting errors and defending complaints is difficult. The Mobike app utilises a "Credit score" system to track users' behaviour. It deducts credits for parking a bike illegally or inaccessibly, a reduced score makes future use more expensive. One way to increase your score is to report other users for infringements of the rules, turning the millions of users into a huge policing force.

Barely 10 years ago, the concern was of CCTV cameras turning our lives into a Big brother style surveillance society. Now we regularly and voluntarily live our lives in full view of others, use devices that constantly broadcasts our location. We share what we do, monitor and comment on how well each other does it and are rewarded when we inform on those who misbehave. The constant surveillance of behaviour maintains order using the same philosophy as behind Bentham’s Panopticon prison.