ABSTRACT
The pattern of surveillance laws enacted by Western liberal democracies during the past one and a half decades has an eerie symmetry about it. Nearly every new law has been introduced following a terrorist attack. And nearly every law has increased the power of state authorities to intercept or gather information on its citizens, including journalists. From the moment the US mainland was attacked by al-Qaeda in September 2001, the so-called War on Terror unleashed a terrifying increase in surveillance, with no end in sight. The fact that in some cases terrorist plots are disrupted, or arrests are made, is repeatedly asserted by government, politicians and much of the media as the reason why more intrusive laws are needed. It appears that the use of mass surveillance has at best a limited benefit in preventing terrorism.
