David Lyon (sociologist)

David Lyon FRSC FAcSS (born 1948) is a retired Scottish sociologist who directed the Surveillance Studies Centre at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He previously held a Queen’s Research Chair position and appointments in the Department of Sociology and the Faculty of Law at Queen's University.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Lyon received Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in social science and history at the University of Bradford in Yorkshire, England, fuelling a fascination with driving forces behind and social consequences of some major transformations of the modern world.

Best known internationally for his work in surveillance studies, Lyon defines surveillance as the "operations and experiences of gathering and analyzing personal data for influence, entitlement or management." As well, he has developed key concepts in the field, such as "social sorting". Lyon has also taught and researched in the areas of information society, globalization, secularization, and postmodernity. He is author, co-author, editor or co-editor of 28 books. His books have been translated into 16 languages.

He was a founding editor of the journal Surveillance & Society, is an associate editor of The Information Society, and is on the international editorial board of a number of other academic journals. Since 2000 Lyon has led a series of team projects; currently, "Big Data Surveillance" (2015–2020). He is also on the international advisory boards of other major projects in surveillance studies.

He has held visiting appointments in a number of universities including Auckland, Bir Zeit, Edinburgh, Leeds, Melbourne, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, the Centre for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris. Lyon has also encouraged surveillance research initiatives and groups around the world, especially in Israel/Palestine and the Middle East, Japan, and Latin America.