Cameras that can see through your clothes at 80 paces; council tax rising to cover increased CCTV needs; suggestions that Internet Service Providers should monitor customer usage in the comfort of their own homes; plus ID cards, fingerprint and eyeball recognition on the horizon. In the 21st century is there anywhere to hide? And if not, should there be?

Big Brother: Who is watching you? twitches the curtain and takes a hard look at our increasingly hi-tech, zero privacy society.

"precisely what's needed..."
Hephzibah Anderson, The Daily Mail

Joseph O'Neill is a freelance author and broadcaster whose work has featured in all the major family history magazines. He writes a regular feature for the BBC's Who do you think you are? and is author of Crime City, his account of Manchester's Victorian underworld.