Compulsory Visibility?

Abstract

The principle of compulsory visibility is an idea introduced by the philosopher Michel Foucault. This chapter considers how facial recognition technology magnifies visibility, whether by the use of body-worn cameras or by coercion or other means and has become panoptical in its reach. Unlike Bentham’s panopticon FRT has replaced the physical structures and although not necessarily disciplinary, FRT imposes a compulsory visibility on persons subjected to its gaze, whenever they are exposed to its gaze whether for investigative or security purposes or on social networks.