Dr. Elliot D. Cohen Calls for Critical Thinking in Mass, ÔÇ£WarrantlessÔÇØ Surveillance
New York, NYÔÇöEthical questions are multiplying in tandem with the continuous boom of technology. And in the wake of the National Security Agency expos├® of 2013, people have been turning a more critical eye toward United States surveillance policies. Dr. Elliot D. CohenÔÇÖs latest book, Technology of Oppression: Preserving Freedom and Dignity in an Age of Mass, Warrantless Surveillance, provides a systematic analysis of mass surveillance in America and in allied countries, revealing how lax intelligence laws have undermined common civil liberties. It also offers a concise proposal of the software developments and technological policy changes necessary to establish a global standard of transparency.
Cohen is an expert in ÔÇ£applied ethicsÔÇØ, which means that he examines both the rules at work in various industries and the practical implications of those principles (i.e. whether theyÔÇÖre working or not). He has brought his research to the fields of medicine, law, journalism, and particularly, psychotherapy, integrating the philosophy discipline into his approach. Elliot now has six published books┬áon┬ávarious aspects of mass media, information, and intelligence law and technologies, including Mass Surveillance and State Control: The Total Information Awareness Project (2010). He has also authored several patents related to the protection of electronic privacy.
“Technology has long been touted as a great liberating tool that will improve life, [but] high-technologyÔǪinvades privacy,ÔÇØ echoed Mark Karlin, editor at BuzzFlash. ÔÇ£Fortunately, Cohen suggests strategies to rein in the perilous dangers of a government that can monitor our every move.”
Dr. Cohen received his Ph.D. from Brown University, and is founder and editor of the International Journal of Applied Philosophy and the International Journal of Philosophical Practice, as well as ethics editor of Free Inquiry Magazine.  He co-founded and is Executive Director for the National Philosophical Counseling Association (NPCA), and he is the President of the Institute of Critical Thinking, a national center for logic-based therapy. Recently, he joined the team of highly regarded Fellows at the Secular Policy Institute, which serves as a proponent of scientific and rational legislation. Current Fellows include authors and academics such as Taslima Nasrin, Gregory Benford, Elizabeth Loftus, and John McWhorter.
ÔÇ£The sheer enormity of our technological capabilities are only counterbalanced by a growing interest in ethically regulating these forces,ÔÇØ offered Edwina Rogers, SPI CEO and 20-year public policy expert. ÔÇ£Decision-makers must put checks in place to keep up with the widening reach of our government, and Dr. CohenÔÇÖs research provides some excellent guidelines.ÔÇØ
SPI can be found at http://secularpolicyinstitute.net. On the site are Fellow bios and secular resources, such as newsletters, as well as funding and volunteer opportunities. Dr. Elliot D. CohenÔÇÖs books are available on Amazon.
CONTACT: Madeline Schussel, SPI Policy Director, at madeline@secularpolicyinstitute.net, or Edwina Rogers at (202) 430-1888.