Surveillance America

This book applies a historical perspective to prime readers on the debate regarding how surveillance may infringe on civil liberties.

Fear of government surveillance runs deep, and the increased capacity for it realized by changing technology makes its history almost impossible to avoid. This groundbreaking book examines key developments in ideas about surveillance, security, privacy, and civil liberties in the digital world and helps readers to understand what is happening today and put it into historical context to think about what may happen in the future.



The book opens with a short history of surveillance in America, followed by theoretical and practical foundations for understanding surveillance today. It then reviews such developments as biometrics, facial recognition, drones, and big data and examines the implications of these technological advancements. Comprehensive in the contemporary topics it addresses, it also covers such topics as the NSA's telephone metadata program and surveillance of the Internet, monitoring of press activity through digital means, and the increased use of drone surveillance technology domestically.


? Serves as a comprehensive and highly topical reference for surveillance, privacy, and security issues in a scholarly yet readable format

? Assesses the balance between security and privacy as well as how conceptions of them are developing on the international stage

? Considers how technology is ending governmental secrecy and personal privacy

? Examines what the U.S. government is doing to address digital surveillance issues

? Addresses hot-topic issues such as the Snowden case, data mining, NSA phone tapping, and drone surveillance