Mass surveillance

The term Gläserner man is primarily used as a metaphor of data protection, which stands for the perceived negative full " screening " of the people and their behavior through a monitoring state.

The user of this term refer to the increasing surveillance of people, new technical surveillance methods as well as the increasing interest of the state of information about its citizens. They fear a complete loss of privacy and the right to informational self-determination and the resulting adaptation of people to the state of be standard behavior specified ( opportunism ). This development is also favored by the ill-considered use of the Internet: If a user logs in multiple social networks or similar services in the field of social software on under the same user name and returns information about yourself, as it is soon after using common search engines or people search services possible to assemble the individual personality aspects to form an overall picture.

The term is used in various modified forms: On the Common ones name is Gläserner citizens. In connection with the public accounts query that was made ​​possible by the law to promote tax compliance, is spoken by the taxpayer or Transparent Transparent bank customers.

In this context contrary is also spoken by Crystal MPs could be more transparent through the political processes for the voters. Here it is not a question that the citizens of the state, but that the state is transparent to the citizens.

Meanwhile, the image of the transparent man also on the increasing " screening " of the people through non- government organizations and business enterprises is applied: In healthcare, speech, trade unions fear the Crystal staff and consumer advocates is from Crystal warn patients in the discussion of the consumer data protection from the Crystal customers.

Another meaning comes from the field of bioethics, in which one under the transparent man the analysis of its DNA understands that gives information on many physical characteristics of a person.

Originally, the end of the 1920s developed by the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden were designated anatomical human models of transparent plastic as Gläserner man.