Surveillance, Privacy, and the Globalization of Personal Information

International Comparisons

By Elia Zureik, Lynda Harling Stalker, and Emily Smith
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Hardcover : 9780773537071, 448 pages, June 2010
Ebook (PDF) : 9780773591042, 448 pages, June 2010

Description

Covering a range of countries from China, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico to the United States, Canada, Spain, France, and Hungary, this volume reveals the similarities and differences among populations in their reactions to the surveillance era and in the amount each knows about government monitoring. Topics deal with pertinent issues such as global, national, and local transfer of personal information about citizens' financial transactions, work, and travel. The authors also analyse the collaboration of government and the private sector in the collection and transfer of private information. A remarkable resource in understanding attitudes towards surveillance, security, and privacy, Surveillance, Privacy, and the Globalization of Personal Information is indispensable for anyone curious about what governments, the private sector, and citizens know about each other.

Reviews

"The research on which these articles are based is a magisterial undertaking with its 9000 interviews in nine countries, its relevance to current social issues and its sensitivity to national differences even as universal information technologies sweep across - and often sweep away - traditional borders." Gary T. Marx, Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and co-author of Undercover: Police Surveillance in Comparative Perspective