A word invented by University of Wollongong researchers is now in the Macquarie Dictionary and in the running to become the 2008 Macquarie Word of the Year.
uberveillance (say ‘oohbuhvayluhns) – noun. an omnipresent electronic surveillance facilitated by technology that makes it possible to embed surveillance devices in the human body.
UOW Honorary Senior Fellow Dr MG Michael conceived the word in a guest lecture he delivered on the ‘Consequences of Innovation’. He and Dr Katina Michael were researching beneath-the-skin surveillance technologies that could identify and locate individuals.
They said the term “surveillance” didn’t describe the full extent of the technological capabilities available today. “Michael could find no other term but to bring together the German prefix “über” with the French root word “veiller” to describe the exaggerated surveillance conducted by governments in the name of national security,” Dr Katina Michael said.
“We needed a word to describe the profoundly intrusive nature of such technologies and it was no longer about Big Brother looking down, but rather about Big Brother on the inside looking out,” she said.
From: http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW053997.html
Vote for your choice as 2008 word of the year by midnight 31 Jan 09: http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/anonymous@919FFD22506732/-/p/di ct/WOTY08/index.html?