Just been to an interesting lecture entitled "Ethics, Politics And Economics" and first heard about the concept of “Panopticon,” a building design created in the 18th Century by English philosopher Jeremy Benthan, who is considered the the founder of modern utilitarianism..

 One of Benthan’s principles of observation is to allow all (pan-) inmates of an institution to be observed (-opticon) by a single watchman without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched.

 From a philosophical perspective, the idea to watch and be watched is quite widespread in modern society.  One prime example, certainly, are Chinese plans to create a citizen rating system by 2020, as discussed in the article, "Big Data Meets Big Brother As China Moves To Rate Its Citizens" (http://www.wired.co.uk/). 

Another is the recent ambiguity with FaceBook over the use of its data by Cambridge Analytica.

 Not forgetting about Snowden’s revelations and all sorts of spy conspiracy scandals, all these add to the total feeling of common people's fear of being watched and analyzed.  If it is made with the consent of the observed, that is one thing.  Without such permission, it is a completely different story.

 But what the watched had control over the watcher?  What if society itself was be able to observe the activity of establishments, governments and administrations to make them transparent with the click of a mouse?

 The emerging blockchain technology seems to empower common people to take control of public services, something like finding out how their taxes are spent by tracking every payment on blockchain. 

 The only way to deal with corruption is openness of data. That is what blockchain is all about. ![Screen Shot 2018-03-24 at 21.29.38.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXpUewxEG2yhoEzZTmSyEj6j1WEQ2DMfGtW4dRFPiXPYN/Screen%20Shot%202018-03-24%20at%2021.29.38.png)