ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to the ethical issues raised by acts of surveillance. It looks at a variety of different applications of surveillance as carried out by the state and privately. These ranged from international espionage to welfare claimants, from public health to shoppers in clothes stores, and from schools to care homes for the elderly. Developments in surveillance are occurring as quickly as the technologies on which they rest. Hence, the ethics of surveillance insofar as it is practised by private investigators and in corporate espionage are two areas woefully under-researched as of the time of writing. Both would benefit significantly from more sustained analysis and thought. Likewise, the ethics of surveillance in social welfare, a practice hidden from many of us who are fortunate enough not to live on state benefits, is an area that needs more research.
