Privacy International begins tracking surveillance industry

November 24, 2013

Activist group Privacy International has launched an ambitious project to track the spread of commercial surveillance, spying and tracking technology and the often secretive firms selling into the booming sector. Compiled from a variety of sources over the last four years, the Surveillance Industry Index includes 1203 documents covering 338 firms, 97 surveillance systems, and 36 countries, including some from the U.S. and U.K. "This research was conducted as part of our Big Brother Incorporated project, an investigation into the international surveillance trade that focuses on the sale of technologies by Western companies to repressive regimes intent on using them as tools of political control," said Matt Rice of Privacy International in his introduction to the database. "What we found, and what we are publishing, is downright scary." Validating 'legitimate' spies The notion of "legitimate" surveillance has always been contentious, but the activities of a number of firms have recently raised the concern level a notch. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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