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21 – 30 of over 5000
Article
Publication date: 25 July 2023

Smith Oduro-Marfo

The proliferation of surveillance-enhancing laws, policies and technologies across African countries deepens the risk of privacy rights breaches, as well as the risks of adverse…

Abstract

Purpose

The proliferation of surveillance-enhancing laws, policies and technologies across African countries deepens the risk of privacy rights breaches, as well as the risks of adverse profiling and social sorting. There is a heightened need for dedicated advocacy and activism to consistently demand accountability and transparency from African states, governments and their allies regarding surveillance. The purpose of this paper is to understand the issue frames that accompany anti-surveillance and privacy advocacy in Ghana and the related implications.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative and interpretivist approach, the author focuses on three different surveillance-oriented incidents/programs in Ghana and analyzes the frames underpinning the related advocacy and narratives of various non-state actors.

Findings

Privacy and anti-surveillance advocacy in Ghana tends to be less framed in the context of privacy rights and is more driven by concerns about corruption and value for money. Such pecuniary emphasis is rational per issue salience calculations as it elevates principles of economic probity, transparency and accountability and pursues a high public shock value and resonance.

Practical implications

Economics-centered critiques of surveillance could be counterproductive as they create a low bar for surveillance promoters and sustains a culture of permissible statist intrusions into citizens’ lives once economic virtues are satisfied.

Originality/value

While anti-surveillance and privacy advocacy is budding across African countries, little is known about its nature, frames and modus compared to such advocacy in European and North American settings. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is likely the first paper or one of the first dedicated fully to anti-surveillance and advocacy in Africa.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 May 2008

Ronald Kahn

Legalists and social scientists have not been able to explain the expansion of gay rights in a conservative age because they refuse to respect the special qualities of judicial…

Abstract

Legalists and social scientists have not been able to explain the expansion of gay rights in a conservative age because they refuse to respect the special qualities of judicial decision making. These qualities require the Supreme Court to look simultaneously at the past, present, and future, and, most importantly, to determine questions of individual rights through a consideration of how citizens are to live under a continuing rights regime. Unless scholars understand how and why Supreme Court decision making differs from that of more directly politically accountable institutions we can expect no greater success in explaining or predicting individual rights in the future.

Details

Special Issue Constitutional Politics in a Conservative Era
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1486-7

Book part
Publication date: 4 May 2020

Christos Boukalas

The sudden rise of the socio-political importance of security that has marked the twenty-first century entails a commensurate empowerment of the intelligence apparatus. This…

Abstract

The sudden rise of the socio-political importance of security that has marked the twenty-first century entails a commensurate empowerment of the intelligence apparatus. This chapter takes the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 as a vantage point from where to address the political significance of this development. It provides an account of the powers the Act grants intelligence agencies, concluding that it effectively legalizes their operational paradigm. Further, the socio-legal dynamics that informed the Act lead the chapter to conclude that Intelligence has become a dominant apparatus within the state. This chapter pivots at this point. It seeks to identify, first, the reasons of this empowerment; and, second, its effects on liberal-democratic forms, including the rule of law. The key reason for intelligence empowerment is the adoption of a pre-emptive security strategy, geared toward neutralizing threats that are yet unformed. Regarding its effects on liberal democracy, the chapter notes the incompatibility of the logic of intelligence with the rule of law. It further argues that the empowerment of intelligence pertains to the rise of a new threat-based governmental logic. It outlines the core premises of this logic to argue that they strengthen the anti-democratic elements in liberalism, but in a manner that liberalism is overcome.

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2013

Andreas Kuehn

This article compares the use of deep packet inspection (DPI) technology to the use of cookies for online behavioral advertising (OBA), in the form of two competing paradigms. It

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Abstract

Purpose

This article compares the use of deep packet inspection (DPI) technology to the use of cookies for online behavioral advertising (OBA), in the form of two competing paradigms. It seeks to explain why DPI was eliminated as a viable option due to political and regulatory reactions whereas cookies technology was not, even though it raises some of the same privacy issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The paradigms draw from two-sided market theory to conceptualize OBA. Empirical case studies, NebuAd's DPI platform and Facebook's Beacon program, substantiate the paradigms with insights into the controversies on behavioral tracking between 2006 and 2009 in the USA. The case studies are based on document analyses and interviews.

Findings

Comparing the two cases from a technological, economic, and institutional perspective, the article argues that both paradigms were equally privacy intrusive. Thus, it rejects the generally held view that privacy issues can explain the outcome of the battle. Politics and regulatory legacy tilted the playing field towards the cookies paradigm, impeding a competing technology.

Originality/value

Shifting the narrative away from privacy to competing tracking paradigms and their specific actors sheds light on the political and the regulatory rationales that were not considered in previous research on OBA. Particularly, setting forth institutional aspects on OBA – and DPI in general – the case studies provide much needed empirical analysis to reassess tracking technologies and policy outcomes.

Details

info, vol. 15 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6697

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2017

Jo Bates

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to further develop Paul Edwards’ concept of “data friction” by examining the socio-material forces that are shaping data movements in…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to further develop Paul Edwards’ concept of “data friction” by examining the socio-material forces that are shaping data movements in the cases of research data and online communications data, second, to articulate a politics of data friction, identifying the interrelated infrastructural, socio-cultural and regulatory dynamics of data friction, and how these are contributing to the constitution of social relations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper develops a hermeneutic review of the literature on socio-material factors influencing the movement of digital data between social actors in the cases of research data sharing and online communications data. Parallels between the two cases are identified and used to further develop understanding of the politics of “data friction” beyond the concept’s current usage within the Science Studies literature.

Findings

A number of overarching parallels are identified relating to the ways in which new data flows and the frictions that shape them bring social actors into new forms of relation with one another, the platformisation of infrastructures for data circulation, and state action to influence the dynamics of data movement. Moments and sites of “data friction” are identified as deeply political – resulting from the collective decisions of human actors who experience significantly different levels of empowerment with regard to shaping the overall outcome.

Research limitations/implications

The paper further develops Paul Edwards’ concept of “data friction” beyond its current application in Science Studies. Analysis of the broader dynamics of data friction across different cases identifies a number of parallels that require further empirical examination and theorisation.

Practical implications

The observation that sites of data friction are deeply political has significant implications for all engaged in the practice and management of digital data production, circulation and use.

Social implications

It is argued that the concept of “data friction” can help social actors identify, examine and act upon some of the complex socio-material dynamics shaping emergent data movements across a variety of domains, and inform deliberation at all levels – from everyday practice to international regulation – about how such frictions can be collectively shaped towards the creation of more equitable and just societies.

Originality/value

The paper makes an original contribution to the literature on friction in the dynamics of digital data movement, arguing that in many cases data friction may be something to enable and foster, rather than overcome. It also brings together literature from diverse disciplinary fields to examine these frictional dynamics within two cases that have not previously been examined in relation to one another.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 74 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 June 2021

Prathamesh Churi, Ambika Vishal Pawar and Amir A. Abdulmuhsin

Focusing on the Indian context, with the increase in the amount of data and its analysis in health-care knowledge management (KM), the privacy concerns rise which results in loss…

Abstract

Purpose

Focusing on the Indian context, with the increase in the amount of data and its analysis in health-care knowledge management (KM), the privacy concerns rise which results in loss of trust of an individual in e-health-care systems. Privacy issues in health care, specific to India, are caused by prevalent complacency, culture, politics, budget limitations, large population and infrastructures. Because of these factors, data security requires a backseat that allows easy access to confidential information. Furthermore, the prevalent culture affects health-care disclosure in India. In many cultures, disclosing sensitive personal health-care data is considered ill mannered. This leads to discrepancies in the recorded health-care data and a decrease in the level of treatment meted out. The results and statistics of treatments given do not match the records because of inaccurate data reporting. With the significant rise in the analysis and use of technology in health-care KM systems, it is important to understand the perception of KM in terms of its use and awareness about data sharing in the KM system. The purpose of the paper is to measure the perception of privacy issues in the context of Indian healthcare management systems.

Design/methodology/approach

To measure the perception of the use of the KM system, a set of 20 questions was circulated with a sample size of 337 which includes health-care researchers, doctors, practitioners and patients. The questions focused upon the use, share the sensitive health data in the KM platform. All the demographic information such as age, sex, religion, occupation is recorded. The privacy of the individual is maintained while circulating the questionnaire. The usage of health KM system and its privacy is measured through means and t-test.

Findings

The results of the t-test were found positive. This research study finds that the privacy factor is important among the Indians to share the information with the KM repository. It is also found that medical practitioners or data custodians are not much serious about sensitive data is being stored for analysis. From the statistical perception of usage of KM and its privacy, new architecture and privacy guidelines were suggested which can be considered in future research.

Research limitations/implications

From the literature review, the questionnaire has developed which can help policymakers and hospital administrators collect information about KM processes in health-care organizations, and this can result in higher performance of health organizations. The privacy factor can also be included in typical health KM architecture ensure that while knowledge acquisition process, privacy of individual or organization can be maintained.

Social implications

KM enhances the value of corporations and business industries through knowledge production, distribution and provides reliable access to the knowledge resources. KM in health care can comprise a confluence of formal methodologies and techniques to facilitate the creation, identification, acquisition, development, preservation, dissemination and finally the utilization of the various facets of a health-care enterprise’s knowledge assets. According to IBM Global executive report in the year 2012, the entire health-care system has changed from diseases-centric to patient-centric. India is emerging in terms of revenue and employment in the health-care field. The advances of information and communication technology help the health-care sector streamline for data structure and access and health analytics.

Originality/value

In India, the KM is frequently used in health-care industries majorly by health-care practitioners and professionals. As health-care data and knowledge are considered to be sensitive, the privacy of an individual while using the data cannot be compromised. The proposed empirical work will provide a solution in determining the main barriers of implementing privacy policies that need to be solved first and to ensure effective implementation of KM in the health care of India.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 30 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 November 2017

Christian Fuchs and Daniel Trottier

This paper aims to present results of a study that focused on the question of how computer and data experts think about Internet and social media surveillance after Edward…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present results of a study that focused on the question of how computer and data experts think about Internet and social media surveillance after Edward Snowden’s revelations about the existence of mass-surveillance systems of the Internet such as Prism, XKeyscore and Tempora. Computer and data experts’ views are of particular relevance because they are confronted day by day with questions about the processing of personal data, privacy and data protection.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted two focus groups with a total of ten experts based in London. As London is considered by some as the surveillance capital of the world, and has a thriving Internet industry, it provided a well-suited context.

Findings

The focus group discussions featured three topics that are of crucial importance for understanding Internet and social media surveillance: the political economy surveillance in general; surveillance in the context of the Snowden revelations; and the question what the best political reactions are to the existence of a surveillance-industrial complex that results in political and economic control of the Internet and social media. The focus groups provided indications that computer and data experts are pre-eminently informed on how Internet surveillance works, are capable of critically assessing its implications for society and have ideas about on what should be done politically.

Originality/value

Studies of privacy and surveillance after Edward Snowden’s revelations have taken on a new dimension: Large-scale covert surveillance is conducted in a collaborative endeavour of secret services, private communications corporations and security companies. It has become evident that a surveillance-industrial Internet surveillance complex exists, in which capitalist communications and security corporations and state institutions collaborate.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 May 2019

Emanuel Boussios

This chapter focuses on a critical issue in cyber intelligence in the United States (US) that concerns the engagement of state-owned or state-controlled entities with overseeing…

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a critical issue in cyber intelligence in the United States (US) that concerns the engagement of state-owned or state-controlled entities with overseeing citizen’s activity in cyberspace. The emphasis in the discussion is placed on the constitutionality of state actions and the shifting boundaries in which the state can act in the name of security to protect its people from the nation’s enemies. A second piece of this discussion is which state actors and agencies can control the mechanisms by which this sensitive cyber information is collected, stored, and if needed, acted upon. The most salient case with regard to this debate is that of Edward Snowden. It reveals the US government’s abuses of this surveillance machinery prompting major debates around the topics of privacy, national security, and mass digital surveillance. When observing the response to Snowden’s disclosures one can ask what point of view is being ignored, or what questions are not being answered. By considering the silence as a part of our everyday language we can improve our understanding of mediated discourses. Recommendations on cyber-intelligence reforms in response to Snowden’s revelations – and whether these are in fact practical in modern, high-technology societies such as the US – follow.

Details

Politics and Technology in the Post-Truth Era
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-984-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 May 2019

Francesco Ciclosi, Paolo Ceravolo, Ernesto Damiani and Donato De Ieso

This chapter analyzes the compliance of some category of Open Data in Politics with EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. After clarifying the legal basis of…

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the compliance of some category of Open Data in Politics with EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. After clarifying the legal basis of this framework, with specific attention to the processing procedures that conform to the legitimate interests pursued by the data controller, including open data licenses or anonymization techniques, that can result in partial application of the GDPR, but there is no generic guarantee, and, as a consequence, an appropriate process of analysis and management of risks is required.

Details

Politics and Technology in the Post-Truth Era
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-984-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2021

Andrew MacFarlane, Sondess Missaoui, Stephann Makri and Marisela Gutierrez Lopez

Belkin and Robertson (1976a) reflected on the ethical implications of theoretical research in information science and warned that there was potential for abuse of knowledge gained…

Abstract

Purpose

Belkin and Robertson (1976a) reflected on the ethical implications of theoretical research in information science and warned that there was potential for abuse of knowledge gained by undertaking such research and applying it to information systems. In particular, they identified the domains of advertising and political propaganda that posed particular problems. The purpose of this literature review is to revisit these ideas in the light of recent events in global information systems that demonstrate that their fears were justified.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors revisit the theory in information science that Belkin and Robertson used to build their argument, together with the discussion on ethics that resulted from this work in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The authors then review recent literature in the field of information systems, specifically information retrieval, social media and recommendation systems that highlight the problems identified by Belkin and Robertson.

Findings

Information science theories have been used in conjunction with empirical evidence gathered from user interactions that have been detrimental to both individuals and society. It is argued in the paper that the information science and systems communities should find ways to return control to the user wherever possible, and the ways to achieve this are considered.

Research limitations/implications

The ethical issues identified require a multidisciplinary approach with research in information science, computer science, information systems, business, sociology, psychology, journalism, government and politics, etc. required. This is too large a scope to deal with in a literature review, and we focus only on the design and implementation of information systems (Zimmer, 2008a) through an information science and information systems perspective.

Practical implications

The authors argue that information systems such as search technologies, social media applications and recommendation systems should be designed with the recipient of the information in mind (Paisley and Parker, 1965), not the sender of that information.

Social implications

Information systems designed ethically and with users in mind will go some way to addressing the ill effects typified by the problems for individuals and society evident in global information systems.

Originality/value

The authors synthesize the evidence from the literature to provide potential technological solutions to the ethical issues identified, with a set of recommendations to information systems designers and implementers.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 78 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

21 – 30 of over 5000