Intensification of Surveillance

Our public and private lives are under surveillance as never before. Whether we are shopping with a credit card, walking down the street or emailing a colleague at work, our activities are closely monitored.Since September 11th 2001, surveillance has intensified further. Yet although individuals, groups, governments and states are more closely monitored, our security is not assured.This book explores the vast range of issues related to increased surveillance. What is going on in an area clouded by secrecy from the state and complacent reassurances from corporations? How do we track suspects and combat crime without also eroding our civil liberties and sacrificing our rights to privacy? Does electronic tagging of prisoners work? What are retailers up to with 'lifestyle profiling'?Focusing on these and other issues such as paedophilia, money-laundering, information warfare, cybercrime, and related legislation, this book spotlights benefits and costs of surveillance, and suggests how it is likely to develop in the future.

Kirstie Ball is professor of management at the School of Management at University of St. Andrews. She is co-director and founder of Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance and Privacy (CRISP, co-founder of the journal Surveillance and Society and the charitable company Surveillance Studies Network. She is the co-editor with Frank Webster of The Intensification of Surveillance (Pluto Press, 2003). Frank Webster is Professor of Sociology at City University, London. He is co-editor of The Intensification of Surveillance (Pluto Press, 2003).