SURVEILLANCE IS NOT a new phenomenon. Each day, we’re all filmed by dozens (or even hundreds) of CCTV cameras, but we’ve largely become desensitised to the presence of security cameras. Perhaps this is because we rarely see the footage that’s collected, which lends a bit of psychological distance.

CCTV can even offer a sense of reassurance. People feel safer knowing there are cameras in public places. Cameras don’t prevent crime, but they make it easier to figure out what happened and who was responsible, when something does go wrong.

It’s no surprise people were quick to embrace doorbell cameras. Many still find them creepy and invasive because they have expanded the audience of who can replay footage of us going about our daily lives. Sure, most of the footage goes no further than a data centre, though some of it ends up online – often without the consent of those filmed.

Smart doorbells might be handy for accepting parcels when you’re out of the house, but there might be something deeper here: a manufactured pathology of fear and paranoia that we’re succumbing to.

Think back to the 90s, an objectively more dangerous time in Ireland. The only supervision that many kids had was a parent in the front room watching The Weakest Link. They’d throw an eye onto the street every now and then. There were no doorbell cameras, just Neighbourhood Watch stickers plastered on everyone’s porch doors.

Comparing then with now, the normalisation of doorbell cameras paints a picture of a deteriorating sense of community. Strong communities don’t thrive on the presence of personal CCTV........

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