Madeline Carr,
Politics & International Relations,
Cardiff University
Connecting the Micro and the Macro in
the Data PSST Project
There are a number of points of tension that arise
when we begin to discuss issues of privacy, surveillance, security and trust – many
of them have been explored to great advantage in the previous seminars and many of them will feature
in the special journal
issue that will be produced at the end
of this process. In a way, though – the central tension arises from the question
of perspective, and consequently, definition. Privacy to do what? Communicate with
friends or plan criminal activity? Security
of what? The individual or the state? Surveillance by what means? By CCTV cameras that we can see and are aware of?
Or by methods like those used in the Prism program about we are uninformed and have not given
consent? In many ways, these tensions come down to collective or individual conceptions of
these four key terms. And in many ways, these tensions are indicative of broader fears and concerns
that animate contemporary (Western societies.
With this seminar, we hope to bring into the conversation
some of the challenges of reconciling these tensions across borders. In the international.
Beyond the state. Of course, thinking in terms of international relations when discussing
the Internet or other digital technologies is, some will argue, counter intuitive or even out dated. And to some
extent, that may be the case. Digital technologies certainly challenge conceptions
of borders, states, territory and even political communities in a whole range of interesting and profound ways. But
governments remain important actors in these practices and they also remain important representatives
of individual rights. Although we may disagree with many government approaches to
the issues we have been discussing over the past 18 months, there remains an important
relationship between civil society (or let’s just call them people) and the state. And to an extent, this
relationship already transcends individual rights and expectations of privacy and
security.
We believe that it is essential to take into account
the international dimension if we wish to fully comprehend what digital technology means for the
individual. And knowing that individual conceptions of these issues vary so significantly,
it will be no surprise that state level conceptions do as well. How then, do we begin to unravel the tensions
that have been so well articulated in these seminars when we look beyond the state? What are
some of the key challenges of harmonising international approaches to these tensions?
And if we accept that a universal approach is unlikely, how do we begin to think
about a more plural approach that can accommodate difference? I believe that ideology and a whole range of assumptions
about the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ of different approaches inhibits thinking more creatively and more progressively
about what, at the end of the day, are questions fundamental to the human condition. And
to human rights.
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