Online Surveillance & Personal Liberty

McGuire, MR (2010) Online Surveillance & Personal Liberty In: Handbook of Internet Crime. Willan, pp. 492-520. ISBN 9781843925248

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Abstract

The advent of early communications technologies such as the telegraph or telephone networks brought with them a new presumption on the part of the State and other control agents – that they should have privileged access to the private social interactions which occur there. This presumption has not only expanded with the growth of more recent technologies like the mobile phone and internet but has been legitimized by a swathe of new legal provisions, provisions which significantly outnumber the legal protections extended to private interaction. The idea that this is not just a legitimate, but a ‘natural’ state of affairs has resulted in an unprecedented range of techniques for the monitoring of private behaviours. In turn, new kinds of control agents have been produced – from parents and local authorities through to supermarkets and schools. In this chapter a taxonomy of the varieties and techniques of contemporary surveillance now used on networked communication systems is set out, along with the range of agents able to deploy them at varying levels of sophistication. In a context where keyword filtration, tracking software and data retention begin to play as much of a role in enforcing social order as the justice system itself, some typical arguments advanced to justify this subtle shift – for example the need for identity security, prevention of terrorism or child protection – are outlined and critically evaluated.

Item Type:	Book Section
Authors :	Name Email ORCID McGuire, MR
Date :	1 January 2010
Depositing User :	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited :	28 Mar 2017 15:28
Last Modified :	31 Oct 2017 16:21
URI:	http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/id/eprint/804032

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