Digitally Monitored : Freedom, Surveillance, and the Law

This book explores the rights of individuals subjected to digital surveillance and monitoring through a range of legal and theoretical perspectives.

As digitisation transforms how states, private entities, and individuals use surveillance—across criminal justice systems, workplaces, and in our personal lives—it enables increasingly pervasive forms of monitoring and blurs the boundaries between public and private spaces. This shift raises complex questions about privacy, discrimination, and accountability.

While these issues have often been examined in isolated contexts, Digitally Monitored takes a broader view, establishing digital monitoring as a distinct field of enquiry. Together, the chapters address a set of overarching themes that emerge when digital monitoring is viewed more holistically. These include the justifications for monitoring (such as public safety and employee productivity) versus the protection of individual rights, potential infringements on individual liberty, evolving notions of privacy, heightened risks to vulnerable groups posed by biased technologies, and the role of Big Tech in the collection and use of data.

The chapters offer a range of perspectives on digital monitoring from various legal angles, including public, private, and international law. By establishing digital monitoring as a distinct area of study, the book deepens our understanding of the values embedded in monitoring practices and advances the articulation and protection of the rights of those under surveillance.