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 securitised data about customers begins to flow between the private sector and government. Governments and their security agencies are mandating businesses to transfer data about their customers in a number of key industrial sectors. Organisations 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 Finance regulations in retail financial services and the E-Borders regulations in the retail travel industry. The Private Security State? examines how these new government demands for information intertwine with the activities of private sector organisations, as their systems, processes, customers and employees are integrated into national security frameworks. Through detailed empirical analysis it questions how private sector organisations achieve compliance with demands for customer data. While others have argued that diffused security arrangements de-politicises it, The Private Security State? shows that national security becomes re-politicised as it re-surfaces in the politics of production.