Police
and corporate forces are so quietly wiring their way into daily life that we barely
notice it, says Simon Davies, director of Privacy International. Before long, someone
somewhere may be watching as you switch TV channels or call on a mobile phone (pp.
18-19).
We are witnessing the rise of a surveillance society, where social control is deemed
essential for economic efficiency and security (pp. 20-22).
Yet even in Japan, where a high-tech market in voyeurism has skyrocketed, few can
afford to treat their lives as an open book (pp. 22-23).
Protect yourselves! To reinforce defences, the European Union is fighting to protect
personal data in e-commerce (pp.
24-25),
while companies are rivalling to market technologies to guarantee online anonymity
(p.
26).
From Guatemala to Haiti, human rights activists are learning the art of encryption
to protect their sources (pp.
27-28).
And then there is the ultimate, yet difficult, defence: by foregoing testing to protect
their genetic secrets, many Americans are simply rejecting the new technologies (pp.
29-30).
A counter-offensive is also taking shape through activists like James To, a renegade
legislator in Hong Kong (p.
31).
Meanwhile an eclectic crew of cyber-rights and corporate groups is taking aim at
a proposed cybercrime treaty (pp.
32-33),
while Duncan Campbell, the journalist who revealed the spy network Echelon, continues
his investigation on international surveillance (pp. 34-35).
Finally, British satirist Mark Thomas leads a merry dance around the ubiquitous surveillance
cameras of George Orwell’s homeland (pp.
36-37). |
