We’re living in the age of sousveillance. The term was coined back in 2006 to describe the new phenomenon of members of the public surveilling each other (as opposed to the state surveilling the public) – but now, following the meteoric rise of social media, sousveillance has become so absorbed into everyday life that we barely even register it’s happening. Today, we all know far too much about each other, given that we share so much data and private information about ourselves online: our social lives on Instagram; our political views on X; our running routes on Strava; our real-time locations on Find My Friends.

Enter the RAW ring, a new piece of wearable tech created by the dating app RAW and Queens Tech and the latest in a long line of products and services which encourage sousveillance. The concept is pretty simple: you buy a pair of rings, one for you, one for your partner. The ring can track your heartbeat, using bio-sensors that track your vitals; detect fluctuations in your mood using “emotional AI that reads your state”; and sync your “mood and energy” with your partner’s in “real-time”. You and your partner can access each other’s data in order to “stay connected in ways that go beyond words”.

“Keep you and your partner’s hearts beating as one [...] Marriage evolves, and so does loyalty. Sacred vows go digital. RAW’s mission? Making true love trackable,” reads a statement on the RAW website. “When something’s up, you’ll know. Simple as that,” adds Marina Anderson, RAW co-founder.

It’s unsurprising that RAW believes there’s a market for such a ring, given that there’s a mounting body of research which suggests that Gen Z and young people are noticeably less concerned about privacy than other generations. According to research published in 2023, 88 per cent of Gen Z are willing to share personal information with social media companies – over 20 per cent higher than other, older generations.

But while sousveillance is becoming increasingly common, we should try to resist the urge to snoop on each other 24/7 via technology like the RAW ring. You don’t need to know how your partner’s emotions are fluctuating throughout the day. Nor should you want to. That’s what trust is: accepting that you’ll never be able to read your partner’s mind and choosing to have faith in them anyway.

It’s also pretty easy to see how this sort of product could foster conflict in relationships where jealousy is a preexisting issue. Say your mood boosts in the middle of the day because you saw a sweet dog; but what if your paranoid partner believes your happiness spiked because you were in the middle of a clandestine tryst with your secret lover? In extreme instances, the RAW ring could even engender and enable abuse; while that may sound like a leap, abusers have been known to use tracking technology to stalk and surveil their partners before.

In any case, it’s evident that the rise of sousveillance is only making us more paranoid, anxious, and unhappy. In a recent Dazed article which asked young people what would make them happy, many of them expressed a desire “to be untethered from their phones” and see “an end to surveillance culture”. Research backs this up too: one recent study found that ‘fear of missing out’ was a leading cause of smartphone addiction, with people compulsively checking their phones to see what their peers are doing. And we all know that the more time you spend on your phone, the less happy you are.

If for some reason you want to try out this bonkers ring, preorders open soon. But if you want my advice – you’re better off saving your money (and sanity).