Review of 'Big Brother Australia's Growing Web of Surveillance' by Simon Davies (Sydney, Simon and Schuster, 1992) pp viii, 184

Abstract

In recent times, we have witnessed an ever increasing intrusion by government and corporations into the personal lives of all Australians. This trend has been accelerated by rapid developments in information technology and the economic imperatives of recession. Simon Davies' book is an attempt to identify these and other trends which are leading to the undermining of individual rights and privacy. His message is made all the more compelling in two respects. First, the silence and speed with which our liberties are falling prey to routine government surveillance. Secondly, the overwhelming failure of the law to develop effective privacy safeguards and remedies. These considerations threaten to transform the very nature of citizen and government relations in this country as the building blocks of social control are put in place.