ABSTRACT
YES: Keeping us safe now and helping us improve for the future
Jesse P. Lehrke
This section of the chapter makes the argument for the use of mass surveillance by highlighting its deterrence and denial effects and noting how it raises the risks and costs that terrorists face. In particular, mass surveillance disrupts their operational capability by increasing uncertainty and the amount of time and resources they need to protect themselves. Furthermore, the author argues that the value of mass surveillance is not immediate, but emerges over time, thus helping to increase the broader knowledge necessary to combat the ongoing terrorist threat.
NO: A high-cost, low-reward approach
Ivan Greenberg
This part of the chapter argues that mass surveillance is not a useful tool in the fight against terrorism, but is rather a high-cost, low-reward approach. The author shows that, in spite of the large amount of money invested in mass surveillance, it has contributed only to the prevention of a few plots; in particular, so-called lone wolves have not shown up in the data. Furthermore, it is suggested that data mining is likely to produce false positives, too much data can lead to ‘data drowning’, and all the while, personal rights and civil liberties are severely affected by these measures.
