The Impact of Surveillance on Transparency and Trust

Abstract

In current (Surveillance) Societies, Surveillance has become an everyday practice. As citizens we are not only increasingly watched, we also increasingly participate in processes of surveillance. While surveillance therefore becomes pervasive as an empirical phenomenon, theoretical considerations are gaining importance. Key questions on the concept of surveillance and its relation to current practices still need further clarification however. What role can transparency play in regulating surveillance? Which impact does surveillance have on trust? And where lies the boundary between surveillance and privacy? Simplifying answers to such questions are often explicitly or implicitly given in political discourse. On the basis of theoretical considerations and the study of various empirical cases, the contributions to the panel show, that many such answers need to be refined. They show for example that transparency of surveillance practices can increase their negative effects or that it is not necessarily the misuse of competencies for surveillance that threatens trust. The insights presented in the panel are derived from a variety of cases studied, ranging from democratic states like Britain or India to the autocratic regime of China with it's technically sophisticated surveillance practices.