Morphology of surveillance in the synoptic era: Being followed and online advertising

The basic purpose of this study is to attract attention to the privacy in the digital world, which is developed depending on the information technologies. In the first part of the thesis, the concepts of surveillance and being followed are addressed, and the development of the surveillance phenomenon in the historical process is expressed. Additionally, the terms of panopticon, superpanopticon, synopticon and postpanopticon within the phenomena of surveillance and being followed are examined in detail, and the subjects of digitalization of the concept of being followed and the loss of the individual privacy are addressed. Furthermore, information on the data storage is presented and loss of personal privacy and storage of secret information the subjects are mentioned. In the second part of the study, the process of the historical development of the digital advertising is discussed, the types of digital advertising are explained and the transformation that the advertising sector has experienced is described. In the third part, a survey study on what kind of a privacy concern in digital environment is created by the phenomenon of being followed is conducted and the opinions of the individuals on the subject are included. Within this context, the study examines the privacy problem, which has evolved together with the recent surveillance technologies, through the concept of digital advertising.