The Hypothesis of the universal digital panopticon: The Rise of a Regime of Algorithmic Surveillance and Digital Biopolitics

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21142/DES-1801-2026-0026

Keywords:

Algorithmic surveillance, digital subjectivation, biopolitics, society of control

Abstract

The article proposes the concept of the Universal Digital Panopticon as a reconfiguration of contemporary technologies of power, going beyond the classical Foucauldian conception. Engaging in dialogue with Foucault, Deleuze, and Derrida, it analyzes the emergence of an algorithmic surveillance regime that not only observes but captures and modulates subjectivities. Unlike the disciplinary panopticon, this digital model transforms data into predictable behaviors, managed by algorithms. Biopolitics becomes entangled with neoliberalism, turning self-care into algorithmic curation and reducing freedom to predictability. Difference is treated as noise, and the other as a threat. The article concludes that resisting this regime requires more than technical responses: it demands an ontological rethinking of freedom, alterity, and the event as forms of existence that elude the logic of algorithmic control.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Atila Barros da Silva, Estácio de Sá University, Brazil

    Professor in the Pedagogy, Psychopedagogy, Systems Analysis and Development (ADS), and Computer Science (CS) programs at Estácio de Sá University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

References

Bauman, Z. (2001). Modernidade líquida. [P. Dentzien, trad.]. Zahar.

Bostrom, N. (2003). Are we living in a computer simulation? The Philosophical Quarterly, 53(211), 243-255. https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Bostrom%20-%20Are%20we%20living%20in%20a%20computer%20simulation.pdf

Bostrom, N. (2008). Where are they? Technology Review, 111(3). https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6d5ee544-0990-4fc5-8010-be5b71c50a8b

Bostrom, N. (2009). The future of humanity. Geopolitics, History, and International Relations, 1(2), 41-78. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=95d08dfcf982a0a975e7fd276f1a2896304d321a

Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence. Paths, dangers, strategies. The Financial Times.

Cadwalladr, C. y Graham-Harrison, E. (17 de marzo de 2018). Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election

COSTA, Flavia. Tecnoceno: Algoritmos, biohackers y nuevas formas de vida. taurus, 2021.

Coeckelbergh, M. (2020). AI Ethics. MIT Press.

Deleuze, G. (1962). Nietzsche et la philosophie. Presses Universitaires de France.

Deleuze, G. (1983). A filosofia crítica de Kant. Edições 70.

Deleuze, G. (2018). Diferença e repetição. Paz e Terra.

Derrida, J. (1967). L'écriture et la différence. Seuil.

Derrida, J. (2003). Ética da hospitalidade. [A. Romane, trad.]. Escuta.

Derrida, J. (2011). Da gramatologia. [M. Chnaiderman y R. J. Ribeiro, trads.]. Perspectiva.

Desmurget, M. (2021). A fábrica de cretinos digitais. Os perigos das telas para nossas crianças. (1.ª ed.). Vestígio.

Eubanks, V. (2017). Automating Inequality. How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. St. Martin’s Press.

Foucault, M. (1971). L’ordre du discours. Gallimard.

Foucault, M. (1972). Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique. Gallimard.

Foucault, M. (1975). Vigiar e punir. Nascimento da prisão. Vozes.

Foucault, M. (1976). La volonté de savoir. Gallimard.

Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish. The birth of the prison. Vintage Books.

Foucault, M. (1984). História da sexualidade I. A vontade de saber. Paz & Terra.

Foucault, M. (1995). A ordem do discurso. Loyola.

Foucault, M. (1999). As palavras e as coisas. [S. T. Muchail, trad.]. Martins.

Foucault, M. (2001). Outros espaços. En Ditos e escritos (vol. 3, pp. 411-422). http://www.historiacultural.mpbnet.com.br/pos-modernismo/Foucault-De_Outros_Espacos.pdf

Foucault, M. (2008). A coragem da verdade. (F. Gros, org.). Parabola.

Foucault, M. (2008). Nascimento da biopolítica. Martins Fontes.

Foucault, M. (2011). Microfísica do poder. En Microfísica do poder (pp. 295-295). Paz & Terra.

Foucault, M. (2012). Estratégia, poder-saber. (M. B. da Motta, org.). Forense Universitária.

Foucault, M. (2019). História da sexualidade IV. As confissões da carne. Relógio D’Água.

Foucault, M. y Kremer-Marietti, A. (1969). L’archéologie du savoir. Gallimard.

Kant, I. (1985). Resposta à pergunta: que é esclarecimento. En Textos seletos (vol. 2, p. 104). Vozes.

Kant, I. (1993). O conflito das faculdades. Edições 70.

Kant, I. (2001). Crítica da razão pura. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

Kant, I. (2003). Manual dos cursos de lógica geral. Editora da Unicamp.

Kant, I. (2008). Prolegómenos a toda a metafísica futura. Edições 70.

Kant, I. (2012). Crítica da faculdade do juízo. Forense Universitária.

Kant, I. (2024). Critique of pure reason. Minerva Heritage Press.

Nietzsche, F. (1998). Genealogia da moral. [P. C. de Souza, trad.]. Companhia das Letras.

Nietzsche, F. (2008). Assim falou Zaratustra. [M. da Silva, trad.]. Companhia Editora Nacional.

Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression. How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York University Press.

O’Neil, C. (2016). Weapons of Math Destruction. How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. Crown.

Pariser, E. (2011). The Filter Bubble. What the Internet Is Hiding from You. Penguin.

Rovelli, C. (2008). Loop quantum gravity. Living Reviews in Relativity, 11, 1-69. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.12942/lrr-2008-5.pdf

Rovelli, C. (2015). Sete breves lições de física. Objetiva.

Rovelli, C. (2017). A realidade não é o que parece: A estrutura elementar das coisas. Objetiva.

Rovelli, C. (2017). L’ordine del tempo. Adelphi Edizioni.

Rovelli, C. (2018). Reality is not what it seems: The journey to quantum gravity. Penguin.

Rovelli, C. (2018). The order of time. Riverhead Books.

Rovelli, C. (2023). Buracos brancos. Objetiva.

Sunstein, C. R. (2017). #Republic. Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media. Princeton University Press.

Yañez, A. E. (2021). La construcción social del capitalismo de vigilancia: El huevo de la serpiente revisitado. Gestión y Estrategia, 60, 43-59.

Yeung, K. (2017). ‘Hypernudge’: Big Data as a mode of regulation by design. Information, Communication & Society, 20(1), 118-136. https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/3290385/Yeung-2017-Hypernudge-Big-Data-as-a-mode-of-regulation-by-.pdf

Yeung, K. (2017). Algorithmic Regulation: A Critical Interrogation. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2972505

Zuboff, S. (2023). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs.

Downloads

Published

2026-03-08

How to Cite

The Hypothesis of the universal digital panopticon: The Rise of a Regime of Algorithmic Surveillance and Digital Biopolitics. (2026). Desde El Sur, 18(1), e0026. https://doi.org/10.21142/DES-1801-2026-0026

Similar Articles

1-10 of 95

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.