NCJ Number
191235
Journal
Criminal Justice: The International Journal of Policy and Practice Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 251-276
Editor(s)
George Mair,
Tim Newburn
Date Published
August 2001
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article explores the extent to which the Australian Law Reform Commission predictions are being fulfilled and the degree to which privacy claims remain a barrier to over-surveillance in the new millennium.
Abstract
At one time, the concept of “surveillance” was confined narrowly to policing or spying. Now it encompasses numerous other settings in which personal data are being collected by the governmental and private sectors as part of their crime prevention, revenue-raising, risk management, resource allocation, and marketing objectives. This article explores the report by the Australian Law Reform Commission (1983) that warned of intrusions on personal freedom and individual privacy by the government and private sector. Sophisticated devices and techniques have greatly enhanced the capacity of government to intrude into the lives of citizens. Many of the new forms of surveillance are well suited to the networked society. Technology now allows the compilation, storage, matching, analysis, and dissemination of personal data at high speed at low cost. The private sector is also involved. Simply by participating in modern commerce, individuals are significantly eroding their own privacy. While there may be public support for the preventive role of many forms of overt surveillance, there are also serious weaknesses in the legislative frameworks within which the monitoring of citizens by overt and covert means takes place. There are concerns about accountability, fairness, and the effects on the privacy rights of those who may be unwittingly caught up in the process. The new forms of surveillance are evocative of the old in the use of surveillance as an exercise of power and discipline. The Australian Law Reform Commission called attention to these concerns, but it is far too late to ask whether someone is watching over us. The surveillance society sneaked under our guard and has been implemented (Clarke, 2000b:14). Notes, list of statutes, references