Surveillance After September 11

Prominent among the quests for post 9/11 security are developments in surveillance. 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.

Prominent among the quests for post-9/11 security are developments in surveillance, especially at national borders. These developments are not new, but many of them have been extended and intensified. The result? More and more people and populations are counted as "suspicious" and, at the same time, surveillance techniques become increasingly opaque and secretive. Lyon argues that in the aftermath of 9/11 there have been qualitative changes in the security climate: 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, both nationally and across borders. This all contributes to the creation of ever-widening webs of surveillance. But these systems also sort people into categories for differential treatment, the most obvious case being that of racial profiling. This book assesses the consequences of these trends. Lyon argues that while extraordinary legal measures and high-tech systems are being adopted, promises made on their behalf - that terrorism can be prevented - are hard to justify. Furthermore, intensifying surveillance will have social consequences whose effects could be far-reaching: the undermining of social trust and of democratic participation.

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.

The government is spying on us. Here's how, and what we can do about it.

Based on a series of regional meetings on university campuses with officials from the national security community and academic research institutions, this report identifies specific actions that should be taken to maintain a thriving scientific research environment in an era of heightened security concerns. Actions include maintaining the open exchange of scientific information, fostering a productive environment for international scholars in the U.S., reexamining federal definitions of sensitive but unclassified research, and reviewing policies on deemed export controls. The federal government should establish a standing entity, preferably a Science and Security Commission, that would review policies regarding the exchange of information and the participation of foreign-born scientists and students in research.

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA and its partners had been engaging in warrantless mass surveillance, using the internet and cellphone data, and driven by fear of terrorism under the sign of ’security’. In this compelling account, surveillance expert David Lyon guides the reader through Snowden’s ongoing disclosures: the technological shifts involved, the steady rise of invisible monitoring of innocent citizens, the collusion of government agencies and for-profit companies and the implications for how we conceive of privacy in a democratic society infused by the lure of big data. Lyon discusses the distinct global reactions to Snowden and shows why some basic issues must be faced: how we frame surveillance, and the place of the human in a digital world. Surveillance after Snowden is crucial reading for anyone interested in politics, technology and society.

A Brookings Institution Press and the Computer Ethics Institute publication Can we safeguard our nation's security without weakening cherished liberties? And how does technology affect the potential conflict between these fundamental goals? These questions acquired renewed urgency in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. They also spurred heated debates over such controversial measures as Total Information Awareness and the USA PATRIOT Act. In this volume, leading figures from the worlds of government, public policy, and business analyze the critical issues underlying these debates. The first set of essays examines the relationship between liberty and security and explores where the public stands on how best to balance the two. In the second section, the authors focus on information technology's role in combating terrorism, as well as tools, policies, and procedures that can strengthen both security and liberty at the same time. Finally, the third part of the book takes on a series of key legal issues concerning the restrictions that should be placed on the government's power to exploit these powerful new technologies. Contributors include Zoë Baird (Markle Foundation), James Barksdale (Barksdale Group), Bruce Berkowitz (Hoover Institution), Jerry Berman (Center for Democracy and Technology), Beryl A. Howell (Stroz Friedberg), Jon Kyl (U.S. Senate), Gilman Louie (In-Q-Tel), David Luban (Georgetown University), Richard A. Posner (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit), Marc Rotenberg (Electronic Privacy Information Center), James Steinberg (Brookings), Larry Thompson (Brookings), Gayle von Eckartsberg (In-Q-Tel), and Alan F. Westin (Columbia University).

How has the United Nations dealt with the question of terrorism before and after September 11? What does it mean that the UN itself has become a target of terrorism? Terrorism and the UN analyzes how the UN's role in dealing with terrorism has been shaped over the years by the international system, and how events such as September 11 and the American intervention in Iraq have reoriented its approach to terrorism. The first half of the book addresses the international context. Chapters in this part consider the impact of September 11 on the UN's concern for the rights and security of states relative to those of individuals, as well as the changing attitudes of various Western powers toward multilateral vs. unilateral approaches to international problems. The second half of the book focuses more closely on the UN, its values, mechanisms, and history and its future role in preventing and reacting to terrorism. The Security Council's position on and reactions to terrorist activities are contrasted with the General Assembly's approach to these issues. What role the UN might play in suppressing the political economy of terrorism is considered. A concluding chapter looks at broader, more proactive strategies for addressing the root causes of terrorism, with an emphasis on social justice as a key to conflict prevention, a primary concern of the UN, particularly the General Assembly, before September 11. Contributors are Jane Boulden, Chantal de Jonge Oudraat (Georgetown University), Edward C. Luck (Columbia University), S. Neil MacFarlane (University of Oxford), Rama Mani (Geneva Centre for Security Policy), M. J. Peterson (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Nico Schrijver (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam), MÃ3nica Serrano (Colegio de México and University of Oxford), Thierry Tardy (Geneva Centre for Security Policy), Karin von Hippel (King's College, London), and Thomas G. Weiss.