Surveillance in America ─ An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and the Law

An excellent resource for high school and college students, this book surveys the size, scope, and nature of government surveillance in 21st-century America, with a particular focus on technology-enabled surveillance and its impact on privacy and other civil liberties.

‧ Provides up-to-date perspectives on the current-day challenges regarding surveillance in America and recent events such as government response to Edward Snowden that tie these modern topics to the historic roots of surveillance issues in the United States

‧ Presents information that is accessible and useful both to those with little understanding of technology and those who are tech-savvy

‧ Impartially explains the full range of perspectives on relationship/tradeoffs between national security and crime-fighting benefits of surveillance and the erosion of personal liberties and privacy

‧ Includes primary source documents such as essential laws, court rulings, Justice Department statements, presidential statements, and Congressional testimony from national security experts and civil liberties advocates

Pam Dixon is a researcher on the topics of medical privacy, data brokers, and other contemporary privacy topics. She is the founder and executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit public interest research group.