Surveillance After September 11

By David Lyon

Prominent among the quests for post 9/11 security are developments in surveillance, especially at airports and on borders. Such activities are not new, but after 9/11 many surveillance trends have been intensified. The result? More and more persons and populations are counted as suspicious. At the same time, less is disclosed about surveillance. And the technologies make it even more opaque, such that not only suspicion but widespread secrecy also attends its growth. This book assesses post-9/11 surveillance trends, showing how existing surveillance activities have been extended, and that some qualitative changes in the security climate are taking place. Diverse databases containing personal information are being integrated. Biometric identifiers such as iris scans are becoming more popular. Consumer data are merged with those obtained for policing and intelligence, to create ever-widening webs of surveillance. While extraordinary legal measures and hi-tech systems are being adopted, promises made on their behalf - that terrorism can be prevented - are hard to justify. globalizing surveillance techniques include an undermining of everyday social trust, and of the possibilities for democratic participation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B007YWH51Y
• ISBN13: 9780745631813
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Polity Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 7.4"