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Atmospheres of Privacy

Søilen, Karen Louise Grova LU orcid (2025) p.79-93
Abstract
This chapter offers a reflection on how privacy can be theorized as a distinct form of sphere, namely an atmosphere. Drawing on perspectives from phenomenology and aesthetics, ‘Atmospheres of privacy’ provides a conceptual framework for exploring the embodied and felt experience of privacy in everyday lived spaces. The chapter discusses two cases from contemporary surveillance culture in which domestic privacy is at stake: a series of deeply voyeuristic images taken by the artist Arne Svenson of his neighbours in their apartments in a glass building, and Lighthouse, an AI-enabled home surveillance assistant which provides remote access to the smart home and its inhabitants through the user’s smartphone. The chapter offers key insights into... (More)
This chapter offers a reflection on how privacy can be theorized as a distinct form of sphere, namely an atmosphere. Drawing on perspectives from phenomenology and aesthetics, ‘Atmospheres of privacy’ provides a conceptual framework for exploring the embodied and felt experience of privacy in everyday lived spaces. The chapter discusses two cases from contemporary surveillance culture in which domestic privacy is at stake: a series of deeply voyeuristic images taken by the artist Arne Svenson of his neighbours in their apartments in a glass building, and Lighthouse, an AI-enabled home surveillance assistant which provides remote access to the smart home and its inhabitants through the user’s smartphone. The chapter offers key insights into how the spatial boundaries of the home are dissolving in new ways, and how thinking about privacy as an atmosphere directs our attention to how one feels in an environment – and thus to the transformation of the experience of the home as a privacy space in the 21st century.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
atmospheres, privacy
host publication
Beyond Privacy : People, Practices, Policies - People, Practices, Policies
editor
Søe, Sille Obelitz ; Wiehn, Tanja ; Jørgensen, Rikke Frank and Valtýsson, Bjarki
pages
15 pages
publisher
Bristol University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:105004544746
ISBN
978-1529239690
978-1529239683
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
180a020b-13b2-4a60-8e87-c925ee670e82
date added to LUP
2024-03-15 10:41:33
date last changed
2025-08-11 10:23:59
@inbook{180a020b-13b2-4a60-8e87-c925ee670e82,
  abstract     = {{This chapter offers a reflection on how privacy can be theorized as a distinct form of sphere, namely an atmosphere. Drawing on perspectives from phenomenology and aesthetics, ‘Atmospheres of privacy’ provides a conceptual framework for exploring the embodied and felt experience of privacy in everyday lived spaces. The chapter discusses two cases from contemporary surveillance culture in which domestic privacy is at stake: a series of deeply voyeuristic images taken by the artist Arne Svenson of his neighbours in their apartments in a glass building, and Lighthouse, an AI-enabled home surveillance assistant which provides remote access to the smart home and its inhabitants through the user’s smartphone. The chapter offers key insights into how the spatial boundaries of the home are dissolving in new ways, and how thinking about privacy as an atmosphere directs our attention to how one feels in an environment – and thus to the transformation of the experience of the home as a privacy space in the 21st century.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Søilen, Karen Louise Grova}},
  booktitle    = {{Beyond Privacy : People, Practices, Policies}},
  editor       = {{Søe, Sille Obelitz and Wiehn, Tanja and Jørgensen, Rikke Frank and Valtýsson, Bjarki}},
  isbn         = {{978-1529239690}},
  keywords     = {{atmospheres; privacy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{79--93}},
  publisher    = {{Bristol University Press}},
  title        = {{Atmospheres of Privacy}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}