The 2007 Workshop on the Social Implications of National Security: from Dataveillance to Überveillance and the Realpolitik of the Transparent Society was organised by the Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) funded by the Australian Research Council. The Workshop will become a biennial event bringing together both researchers and practitioners in the fields relating to the national research priority entitled Safeguarding Australia. In 2007, the workshop was held on the 29th October, at the Function Centre at the University of Wollongong between 8.30 am and 5.00 pm.

The Workshop was organised by RNSA members from the IP Location-Based Services Research Program (Faculty of Informatics) from the University of Wollongong, jointly with the University of Melbourne.

It provided a forum for the exchange of ideas and research findings between core groups or individuals interested in the social implications of national security measures, focused on the big picture question of Surveillance vs Security.

Workshop participants will learn about the current and potential status of information security measures. The notion of Dataveillance and that of Überveillance are contrasted in the context of national security. What is the price of security that citizens are prepared to pay? Will surveillance technology force us to choose between our right to privacy and national security? This workshop delves deeper into some of the pressing issues facing technology innovation and adoption, government policy, and the legal and regulatory framework.

The cross-disciplinary workshop was seeking perspectives which covered a diverse array of interest areas such as security, information technology, law, philosophy, sociology, religion, politics, history, culture, science and technology studies, and business.

The workshop included papers by Associate Professor of Counter-Terrorism Nicholas O’Brien, Professor of Social Sciences Brian Martin, Professeur des Universites Invité Université d’Orleans George Mickhail, Associate Professor of Law Gregory Rose and Professor of Transport Systems Marcus Wigan. Other professionals presenting include Professor Roger Clarke Principal of Xamax Consultancy (keynote), Mr Rob Nicholls and Ms Michelle Rowland lawyers who work with Gilbert + Tobin, Dr Lucy Resnyansky a research scientist with the Defence Science and Technology Office, and the Information Security Institute’s Dr Lauren May.

The Workshop Proceedings contains only peer reviewed papers. The acceptance rate was 63%. Each paper was subjected to a rigorous review process conducted by at least two experts in the appropriate field. The authors were requested to revise the papers according to reviewer’s comments. In addition, the editors provided extensive comments for each paper.