ABSTRACT
The chapter deals with an acknowledgement that the work takes a particular ethical stance, and offers the reader some suggestions for reading about alternative, non-Western perspectives. The word "surveillance" in English derives from the French surveiller, meaning to watch over or monitor. The verb veiller derives from the Latin vigilare, translating into English as "to watch". A more recent definition was proposed in a 2006 report for the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) by the Surveillance Studies Network. An area of surveillance that developed within the ancient world was that of slavery. Slavery was a common element, with slaves typically being treated as sub-human. The role of the Church in promoting surveillance here introduces an ambiguity into how surveillance was viewed throughout this period. While each of these statutes related to the operating of the intelligence services, there was little that gave guidance to other agencies with capacities for surveillance.
