Digital surveillance technologies datafy our behavior, commodify our attention, and exert control – from the level of the body to the city, and increasingly on university campuses as well. Dr. Rebecca Smith, digital media scholar and Detroit-based activist will share reflections on the relationship between digital surveillance and carceral control, corporate extraction, and the repression of political dissent – as well as tactics for resistance.
This event includes a workshop for attendees to learn more about how to increase privacy and decommodify their personal devices, envision community safety, and ideate alternative technologies.
Dr. Rebecca Smith is a Detroit-based researcher, educator, and organizer. Their work deals with the political stakes of sociotechnical objects, with a focus on the ways that visualization and mediation practices constrain and / or enhance different forms of individual and collective political agency. As a founding member of Detroit Digital Defense Collective, they are currently engaged in popular education strategies for digital defense and device de-commodification, grounded in abolitionist and anti-authoritarian praxis. They hold a PhD from the University of Michigan, an M.Arch from UC Berkeley, and a BA in New Media from Purchase College.
Presented by the Aydelotte Foundation at Swarthmore College in conjunction with the 2025-26 faculty/staff seminar, Just Tech: Accessible Sustainable Futures.
This event is free and to the public and the Tri-Co community.
Accessibility Information for the Intercultural Center (link)
