Have you ever kept a calendar, tracked what you eat, or saved receipts? Simple data, like how much soda you drink, can tell a story:

Giving up Coke (or not) by Tim Graham

In fact, what you drink can tell several stories. Here’s a more elaborate example, also by Tim Graham:

"I drink therefore I am" by Tim Graham

This is what we call self-surveillance.

What is self-surveillance? Read my article! (Also in PDF). Or Nathan Yau’s blog.

Also added to to the publications page: Nathan Yau & Jodi Schneider “Self-Surveillance,” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Vol. 35, No. 5 June/July 2009, 24-30. [HTML][PDF] . Thanks to Diane Neal (NCCU/U. Western Ontario), who edited the special section on Visual Representation, Search and Retrieval for this issue, and to the Bulletin’s editor Irene Travis and designer Carla Badaracco (who made the 16 figures work for screen and print).

Hat tip to Jenny Levine, whose “How Public is your Privacy” often comes to mind.