I am a sociologist and criminologist whose research sits at the intersection of Science and Technology Studies (STS), digital sociology, human–computer interaction (HCI), and critical criminology. My work examines how emerging technologies —including frontier artificial intelligence, extended reality (XR), ubiquitous sensing, and networked infrastructures — are transforming crime, governance, social ordering, and everyday life within increasingly hybrid digital–physical ("onlife") environments.

My research develops original theoretical frameworks for understanding technology-mediated harms, including Onlife Criminology, trivial surveillance, and the politics of automated capture. I investigate how AI-driven systems, ambient sensing, and immersive technologies normalise new forms of visibility, behavioural prediction, and social control, with particular attention to bystander data capture, algorithmic governance, and the unequal distribution of digital harms. More broadly, my work explores how these infrastructures reshape privacy, autonomy, democratic accountability, and social reproduction.

I was Principal Investigator of the Scottish Government's national review of Public Space CCTV in Scotland (2022–23) and am currently Co-Investigator on the UKRI-funded Design Against Augmented Reality Crime (DAARC) project, which investigates the criminogenic risks of immersive technologies and develops harm-reduction-by-design approaches for future digital environments.

My monograph, Onlife Criminology: Virtual Crimes and Real Harms (Bristol University Press, 2025), advances a new theoretical framework for understanding crime and harm beyond the online/offline divide and was shortlisted for the 2026 British Society of Criminology Book Prize. Alongside my research, I convened the MSc Digital Society at the University of Glasgow and teach across digital sociology, surveillance studies, AI, and critical technological futures.

My research examines how emerging digital technologies are transforming crime, governance, and everyday social life. I investigate the societal implications of frontier artificial intelligence, extended reality (XR), ubiquitous sensing, and networked infrastructures, with particular attention to how these technologies reshape experiences of safety, privacy, autonomy, and social control across increasingly hybrid digital–physical ("onlife") environments.

A central focus of my work is understanding how automated capture, ambient sensing, and algorithmic decision-making produce new forms of crime, harm, and inequality that frequently remain imperceptible to those affected. I explore how technologies designed for convenience, care, efficiency, or security simultaneously generate novel forms of surveillance, behavioural prediction, profiling, and bystander data capture, raising fundamental questions about consent, accountability, and democratic governance.

My research draws upon digital sociology, critical criminology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), surveillance studies, and human–computer interaction (HCI). Through concepts such as Onlife Criminology, trivial surveillance, and the politics of automated capture, I seek to develop new theoretical frameworks capable of explaining the social consequences of increasingly autonomous and interconnected technological systems.

Methodologically, I combine qualitative and interdisciplinary approaches—including ethnography, speculative and design-based research, breaching experiments, and public engagement—to investigate emerging technologies while contributing to policy, governance, and responsible innovation. My work aims to bridge sociological theory with practical debates surrounding AI governance, immersive technologies, privacy, and the future of democratic digital societies.

Keywords: digital sociology; critical criminology; Science and Technology Studies (STS); human–computer interaction (HCI); surveillance studies; frontier artificial intelligence; AI governance; extended reality (XR); ubiquitous sensing; automated capture; bystander data capture; ambient intelligence; Internet of Things (IoT); algorithmic governance; Onlife Criminology; trivial surveillance; digital harms; privacy; trust; digital inequality.

Research groups

• Criminology

List by: Type | Date

• In July 2022, I successfully obtained funding for a 7-month contract with the Government of Scotland. Our study studied the utilization and effects of Public Space Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) through a comprehensive survey and qualitative walking interviews conducted in collaboration with various Local Authorities and Police Divisions across Scotland. As the Principal Investigator (PI), my team and I compared the findings with those from other regions in the UK and Denmark.
• Along with my colleagues Dr Mark McGill (School of Computing Science, Glasgow) and Dr Richard Jones (University of Edinburgh), we have secured funding from REPHRAIN (National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online) for a project on DAARC (Design Against Augmented Reality Crime) (2024-2025)

I am particularly keen in supervising dissertations in novel criminological frontiers such as

• hybrid on/off line reality
• obfuscation, surveillance and data-profiling
• sociological and criminological implications of the Sars-Cov-19 pandemic
• AI and crime prevention
• Smart devices and smart environments
• cyber harm and cybersecurity
• Web Toxicity
• Deepfakes, Bots & Weaponization of Media

Past projects:

• Covid and cybercrime;
• NFT cyberfrauds via online ethnography
• Discourse analysis of media moral panicking

Modules that I Teach on:

• 2021; 2022: Understanding & Explaining Crime (Convener)
• 2022; 2023; 2025; 2025: Criminological Theory in Context (Convener)
• 2022; 2023; 2026: MSc Criminology Methods Lab ( Dissertations Convener)
• 2023; 2025: Digital Societies: Theories and Substantive Issues (Convener)
• Since 2024:  CIVIS University Alliance. DATAFICATION AND JUSTICE (Contributor)

Previous Teaching Experience:

• Sociology of Media
• Anthropology of Social Control
• Law, Crime & Societies

Prizes, awards & distinctions

• 2025: Shortlisted 'Mobile With Monsters' (SPS Teaching Awards)
• 2025: 'Exceptional Promise' Global Talent Visa Endorsement (British Academy)
• 2026: "Onlife Criminology" Shortlisted (BSC Criminology Book Award)

Grant committees & research advisory boards

• 2022 - 2023: Scottish Goverment,
• 2024 - 2025: REPHRAIN,

Editorial boards

• 2022 - 2026: International Political Anthropology
• 2017 - 2020: Irish Anthropological Association

Professional & learned societies

• 2024: Guest Lecturer, CIVIS Europe’s Civic University Alliance

Selected international presentations

• 2024: Lectio Magistralis on Metamorphosis: AI and threat to Democracy (University of Pisa)
• 2026: Centre for Criminology (University of Copenanghen)
• 2026: Presening Onlife Criminology (University of Groningen)
• 2026: Colloquium Series (Donders Institute - University of Radbound)
• 2026: Minority Rights Reloaded Summer School (EURAC Bolzano)

Supplementary

• Semester 2 (2026): External Examiner, MA Criminology & Criminal Justice (University of Strathclyde)

Other than academic publications, I have contributed on magazines and newspapers in both English and Italian. I regularly contribute on the blogs Hype Studies & 'HYPERMODERNITY'.