Spying, once solely the domain of the KGB, CIA, CSIS, and MI5, has become part of everyday life. Governments routinely trawl our emails, closed-circuit security cameras follow us in malls, office buildings, and on street corners, while databases of our DNA and other personal details become larger all the time.

This No-Nonsense Guide provides a well-researched look into the history of surveillance and how the process is carried out today with the aid of technology and often, lack of express consent.

Robin Tudge is a freelance journalist and author who has lived and worked in Chicago, Pyongyang, Moscow, Hanoi, and Beijing. Robin Tudge is the author of The Bradt Guide to North Korea and the award-winning Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories.

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“This well-written, forceful overview provides an excellent introduction to the history and contemporary issues of the world of surveillance and shows how we are all affected by its exponential growth - whether we want to be or not.”

Privacy International

“For anyone who wants a lucid, factual, reliable guide to some of the most important issues of our time, I strongly recommend you check out the No-Nonsense Guides.”

Howard Zinn, social activist and author of a A People’s History of America

“The No-Nonsense Guides target those topics that a large army of voters cares about, but that politicos evade.”

The Independent, London, U.K.

“A splendid new series of pocketable guides to issue politics…rigorously clear.”

EM>The Guardian*, London, U.K.