The panopticon is an architectural design proposed by Jeremy Bentham for prisons featuring circular structure with central observation tower. Inmates in peripheral cells remain visible to guards whilst unable to see whether they are being watched at any moment.
Foucault analysed the panopticon as model for disciplinary power. Awareness of possible observation produces self-regulation. Inmates internalise the disciplinary gaze and police themselves. This proves more effective than constant actual surveillance.
Contemporary surveillance operates through different mechanisms. The digital panopticon involves voluntary self-exposure rather than forced visibility. Algorithmic systems process behavioural data whilst subjects remain unaware of systematic observation.
Related: disciplinary-power, surveillance, Foucault, camera-obscura-military