The Private Security State?: Surveillance, Consumer Data and the War on Terror

The last decade has witnessed the emergence of a surveillance-industrial complex, as securitized data about customers begins to flow between the private sector and government. Governments and their security agencies are mandating businesses transfer data about their customers in a number of key industrial sectors. Organizations in financial services, travel, and, latterly, communications, now provide the very data, which enable decisions about risk and security deployment to be made. This book revolves around case studies of two surveillance regimes: the Anti-Money Laundering / Counter Terror Financing regulations in retail financial services and the e-Borders regulations in the retail travel industry. The book examines how these new government demands for information intertwine with the activities of private sector organizations, as their systems, processes, customers, and employees are integrated into national security frameworks. Through detailed empirical analysis, it questions how private sector organizations achieve compliance with demands for customer data. While others have argued that diffused security arrangements de-politicizes it, the book shows that national security becomes re-politicized as it re-surfaces in the politics of production within the business enterprise. [Subject: Security Studies, Counter-Terrorism, Business, Politics, Data Technology]