Intelligence gathering is in a state of flux. Enabled by massive computing power, new modes of communications analysis now touch the lives of citizens around the globe – not just those considered suspicious or threatening.

Big Data Surveillance and Security Intelligence reveals the profound shift to “big data” practices that security agencies have made in recent years, as the increasing volume of information from social media and other open sources challenges traditional intelligence gathering. Working together, the Five Eyes intelligence partners – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States – are using new methods of data analysis to identify and pre-empt risks to national security. But at what cost to civil liberties, human rights, and privacy protection?

In this astute collection, leading academics, civil society experts, and regulators debate the pressing questions raised by security intelligence and surveillance in Canada in the age of big data.