This paper conceptualizes scandals as a special type of discourse in which the legitimacy of surveillance institutions and practices comes into question. Scandals force surveillance advocates to engage in legitimacy management practices (Suchmann 1995) and adopt legitimization strategies that can be observed. This paper presents a framework for the study of surveillance legitimizing strategies in […]
The faceless debate or, being naked in the digital age
Since the major revelations of Edward Snowden about the illegitimate mass surveillance practices of uncontrollable secret services, not much has changed. There is no No-Spy agreement between the US and Germany (some say there never was, besides words). The NSA and BND continue to share data and to tap into the data of internet citizens. […]
Why Britain is on a dangerous path leading away from democracy and the rule of law
Today, the Guardian published an article revealing that British „ministers are poised to pass emergency laws to require phone companies to log records of phone calls, texts and internet usage“, meaning that the United Kingdom wants to keep a data-retention program. The bill is called „Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill“ (#drip). As a reminder, data […]
we need new surveillance metaphors
The idea of enlightenment was that if we teach enough people to use their brain and to engage in critical thinking, our problems with bad governments will go away. The premise of enlightenment was „knowledge is power“ and combined with democratic elements a tool to hold power in check. Therefore public schools where created to […]
Neulandrepublik Deutschland Teil 1
Im Sommer macht unsere Kanzlerin Frau Merkel auf sich aufmerksam, indem sie (nach 2 Wochen des Schweigens) den damals aufkommenden Überwachungsskandal mit folgenden Worten herunterspielte: „Das Internet ist für uns alle Neuland“. Dieses Statement begründete nicht nur ein eigenes Twitter Hashtag, sondern steht, zumindest für mich, seitdem exemplarisch für das Internetverständnis der Deutschen. Ein Großteil der […]
connecting the dots: Vorratsdatenspeicherung
Good news first. Der EUGH hat die umstrittene Vorratsdatenspeicherung gekippt. Der ehemalige Bundesdatenschützer Schaar dazu: „In der Substanz bestätigt der EuGH die Kritiker der Vorratsdatenspeicherung: Die generelle, anlasslose Speicherung von Telekommunikationsdaten ist weder mit dem Grundrecht auf Achtung des Privatlebens noch mit dem Grundrecht auf Datenschutz vereinbar.“
Noteworthy talking points from Edward Snowden and Chris Soghoian @ SXSW
In case you haven’t seen yet, Edward Snowden gave a talk at one of the biggest tech-consumer shows, the SXSW. Folks like Googles Eric Schmidt tend to be present there and give keynotes (which he did). I just wanted to highlight some of the most interesting points they talked in their video-chat conversation. Edward Snowden […]
Obama then and now – change we can believe in
Today, US president Obama will declare that nothing is wrong with the total surveillance system that has grown like a tumor in the once freedom and privacy loving grove of democracy the founding fathers envisioned. The surveillance system has indeed grown and a militaristic logic now is dominant within the US discourse on terror prevention […]
Connecting the dots, January
The Guardian writes, that the NSA is supposedly spying on members of the US congress. This is rather odd because they repeatedly denied (even in front of the very congress), to spy on US citizens. The only viable conclusion therefore is, that the NSA does not perceive the US congress as citizens, ergo validating the […]
For those who have nothing to hide…
While there is an outcry amongst the media, academia and netizens in general, the mere mortal citizen argues, that PRISM, Tempora and other surveillance tools are not a concern. There is a dangerous attitude at work, a mix of „i have nothing to hide“ and „they [secret services] will not do any harm“. Recent data […]