Surveillance today is a means of sorting and classifying populations and not just of invading personal space or violating the privacy of individuals.… - David Lyon

What persists into postmodern conditions is an abiding infrastructural dependence on communication and information technologies. They are undoubtedly viewed in the popular and political imaginations as far more beneficial than baleful to humanity. That they will continue to expand their influence is beyond doubt, short of some global catastrophe.

But the term surveillance society does have connotations that at least hint at possible negative consequences, in ways that unambiguously optimistic talk of "information societies" and "knowledge-based economies" does not. My point is rather that such societies are in part constituted by a surveillance dimension.

Comint represents the effort to gain access to, intercept and process every important modern form of communication, in every significant sphere, and in many countries.