Terrorism and the Proportionality of Internet Surveillance

European Journal of Criminology, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 119-134, 2009

11 Pages Posted: 31 Aug 2008 Last revised: 27 Feb 2014

See all articles by Ian Brown

Ian Brown

Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) - Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School at São Paulo

Douwe Korff

Oxford Martin School - Global Cyber Capacity Centre; Eur. Univ. Viadrina - Centre for Internet & Human Rights; Yale University - Information Society Project; London Metropolitan University

Date Written: March 9, 2008

Abstract

As the Internet has become a mainstream communications mechanism, law enforcement and intelligence agencies have developed new surveillance capabilities and been given new legal powers to monitor its users. These capabilities have been particularly targeted toward terrorism suspects and organisations, which have been observed to use the Internet for communication, propaganda, research, planning, publicity, fundraising and creating a distributed sense of community. Policing has become increasingly pre-emptive, with a range of activities criminalised as "supporting" or "apologising for" terrorism. The privacy and non-discrimination rights that are core to the European legal framework are being challenged by the increased surveillance and profiling of terrorism suspects. We argue that their disproportionate nature is problematic for democracy and the rule of law, and will lead to practical difficulties for cross-border cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

JEL Classification: K40

Suggested Citation

Brown, Ian and Korff, Douwe, Terrorism and the Proportionality of Internet Surveillance (March 9, 2008). European Journal of Criminology, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 119-134, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1261194

Ian Brown (Contact Author)

Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) - Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School at São Paulo ( email )

São Paulo
Brazil

Douwe Korff

Oxford Martin School - Global Cyber Capacity Centre ( email )

University of Oxford
34 Broad Street
Oxford, OX1 3BD
United Kingdom

Eur. Univ. Viadrina - Centre for Internet & Human Rights ( email )

Grosse Scharrnstr. 59
Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg 15230
Germany

Yale University - Information Society Project ( email )

P.O. Box 208206
New Haven, CT 06520-8206
United States

London Metropolitan University ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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