Seminar 5: Tackling Transparency Beyond the Nation-State

Tackling Transparency Beyond the Nation-State

 31 March 2016

 Cardiff University
Law Building, Rm 1.29
Museum Avenue, CF10 3AX,

10am to 5pm

Your seminar leaders, Madeline Carr and Claudia Hillebrand, welcome you to the fifth of six seminars in the ESRC-funded DATA-PSST! seminar series.

Advanced technologies and the increased interconnectedness of state and private actors across borders allow for a constant flow of data around the globe. This provides opportunities for law enforcement and intelligence authorities to monitor terrorist suspects and criminals – but also the ordinary citizen. In the context of counter-terrorism, this kind of surveillance often also involves cooperation between states but also with private enterprises, such as banks and other financial authorities, as well as companies like Google and Facebook. Given the cross-border and cross-sector nature of these practices, questions arise about the utility of trying to regulate and control data-sharing at the national level only. In addition, tensions emerge between expectations of sovereign rights and responsibilities on the one hand and regional and global cooperation on the other hand. Increasingly, regional actors, such as the EU and the Council of Europe, and also the UN are involved in regulating data-sharing, protecting privacy and challenging excessive surveillance by security authorities.

This seminar will focus on the ongoing attempts at the European and international level to regulate, confine and oversee the global flow of information. To do so, it brings together scholars and practitioners of international relations, political science, media, international law and human rights to examine key debates, analyse strengths and weaknesses of existing mechanisms of regulation and oversight and explore the question of which political level is most suitable to fulfill such a demanding mandate.

Some of the subsidiary questions that will frame this seminar include:

-       How are concepts of borders, states and territory relevant in the practice of safeguarding human rights online?

-       What are the key regional and global mechanisms in place for regulating data-sharing, protecting privacy and challenging excessive surveillance by security authorities? How are these being adhered to, negotiated and/or contested?

-       What tensions have emerged in the UK and the EU in the context of attempts to impose international controls on data-sharing and privacy safeguards?

The seminar will be organized around these key questions and all participants will be able to actively contribute to the debate. In addition to short keynote talks, the seminar will function by means of position statements (which you can find on this blog) and roundtable discussions (a summary of which will be posted on the DATA-PSST website).

Two Roundtables / open discussions

1.     Surveillance and transparency in the international sphere 

2.     Strengths and weaknesses of existing oversight regimes and regulatory mechanisms

Schedule 

10 - 10.15:       Registration

10.15 - 10.30: Summary of previous seminars (Vian Bakir) followed by introduction to today’s seminar (Madeline Carr/Claudia Hillebrand) 

10.30 - 11.00: Peter Mantello and Joseph Connor (10 mins each) 

11.00 - 11.30: Eneken Tikk-Ringas and Rocco Bellanova (10 mins each) 

11.30 - 12.00: Coffee 

12.00 - 1.15:    Roundtable 1: Surveillance and transparency in the international sphere 

1.15 - 2.15:      Lunch 

2.15 - 2.45:      Gilad Rosner (15-20 mins) 

2.45 - 3.15:      Peter Gill and Mark Phythian (10 mins each) 

3.00 - 3.30:      Coffee 

3.30 - 4.30:      Roundtable 2: Strengths and weaknesses of existing oversight regimes and regulatory mechanisms

4.30 - 5:00       Plenary

5.30 - 8:00       DRINKS AND NO HOST DINNER - 29 Park Place.

Location

The seminar will be held at:

Cardiff University
Law Building, Rm 1.29
Museum Avenue, CF10 3AX

You can enter the Law Building either from Park Place or Museum Avenue. It’s a short(ish) walk from Central Station but you can get a train to Cathays Station if you prefer (see map). There is some on street parking available but it’s metered.