COVID-19 and Public Policy in the Digital Age

COVID-19 and Public Policy in the Digital Age explores how states and societies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and their long-term implications for public policy and the rule of law globally. It examines the extent to which existing methods of protecting public safety and national security measure up in a time of crisis. The volume also examines how these ideas themselves have undergone transformation in the context of the global crisis.This book:Explores the intersection of public policy, individual rights, and technology;Analyzes the role of science in determining political choices; Reconsiders our understanding of security studies on a global scale arising out of antisocial behaviour, panic buying, and stockpiling of food and (in the United States) arms;Probes the role of fake news and social media in crisis situations; andProvides a critical analysis of the notion of global surveillance in relation to the pandemic. A timely, prescient volume on the many ramifications of the pandemic, this book will be essential reading for professionals, scholars, researchers, and students of public policy, especially practitioners working in the fields of technology and society, security studies, law, media studies, and public health.

Andrea Monti is an Italian lawyer, journalist, and academic, whose expertise ranges from biotechnology to privacy and high-tech law. He is Adjunct Professor of Public Order and Security at the Gabriele d’Annunzio University of Chieti, Italy. Over the last two years, he delivered lectures as part of the Italian State Police training programmes. He has published several papers on bio-information, computer forensics, technology, and public order, as well as books on computer hacking. His most recent publication is Protecting Personal Information: The Right to Privacy Reconsidered, with Raymond Wacks (2019).Raymond Wacks is Emeritus Professor of Law and Legal Theory at the University of Hong Kong. He has published more than twenty books which have been translated into a dozen languages. His works include Personal Information: Privacy and the Law; Privacy and Media Freedom; Privacy: A Very Short Introduction; and Law: A Very Short Introduction. His most recent publication is Protecting Personal Information: The Right to Privacy Reconsidered, with Andrea Monti (2019). The sixth edition of his Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory was published in 2020.