Spying on Democracy : Government Surveillance, Corporate Power and Public Resistance /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Boghosian, Heidi, author.
Imprint:San Francisco, CA : City Lights Books, [2013]
©2013
Description:1 online resource (349 pages) : illustrations, portrait
Language:English
Series:Open media series
Open Media book.
Subject:Liberty.
Civil rights -- United States.
Privacy, Right of -- United States.
Electronic surveillance -- United States.
Intelligence service -- United States.
National security -- United States.
Terrorism -- United States -- Prevention.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- International Security.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Civil Rights.
LAW -- Civil Rights.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Intelligence.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Human Rights.
Civil rights.
Electronic surveillance.
Intelligence service.
Liberty.
National security.
Privacy, Right of.
Terrorism -- Prevention.
United States.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12587775
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780872866034
0872866033
1322542090
9781322542096
9780872865990
0872865991
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Text in English.
Online resource; title from PDF title page (Wiley, viewed June 5, 2014).
Summary:"Personal information contained in your emails, phone calls, GPS movements and social media is a hot commodity, and corporations are cashing in by mining and selling the data they collect about our private lives. "Spying on Democracy" reveals how the government acquires and uses such information to target those individuals and/or groups it deems threatening"--
Other form:Print version: Boghosian, Heidi. Spying on democracy. San Francisco : City Lights Publishers, [2013] 9780872865990
Review by Choice Review

Boghosian (executive director, National Lawyers Guild) has written a fairly unbiased, balanced overview of government surveillance, corporate surveillance, and the mingling of the two. Extensive research and notes with popular, accessible media sources as well as scholarly and legal sources make this work approachable to the general public. There are plentiful examples and case studies, all backed with sources. While focused on the surveillance of protest organizations, other types of surveillance are covered. This is a great introduction for those beginning to read about the current state of surveillance and privacy. Privacy scholars will find the very recent case examples and logical arguments compelling. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. J.M. Keller Florida Coastal School of Law

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In a typical day "your image is caught on surveillance cameras at least 200 times," warns Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, in this well-researched dossier on the pervasive lengths the U.S. government and corporations will go to track citizens' personal habits. Rejecting the notion that the domestic "surveillance net" of technologies such as biometric scanning, drones, and RFID chips keep Americans safer from terrorism, the author argues that such relentless scrutiny makes Americans less free by silencing critics and encouraging complacency with waning expectations of privacy. Timely examples are provided, including one from a Pennsylvania school district which remotely monitored students via cameras on school laptops, as well as a breakdown of the police tactics used during the Occupy movement. These examples are carefully connected to their societal consequences: among the areas directly affected, claims the author, are free speech, attorney-client privileges, investigative journalism, and the ability to protest injustice. Boghosian concludes with a survey of organizations devoted to protecting civil liberties. But real freedom, she stresses, must be defended on the personal level through committed encouragement of dissent. An informative read for parents, students, and activists, especially those interested in the implications of technology in today's society. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Review by Choice Review


Review by Publisher's Weekly Review