How is Privacy perceived in German Police Law?

By December 2018, Germany’s biggest state, North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) introduced its revised police law (PolG NRW). The PolG NRW enables previously forbidden surveillance practices to combat terrorism in Germany. Discussion surrounding the PolG NRW revolved around surveillance practices enabled through the law. By using a privacy taxonomy, developed by Daniel J. Solove (2010) this thesis has categorised, analysed and evaluated six sections of the PolG NRW with regards to infringements upon privacy. This thesis (1) identifies potentially harmful activities for personal privacy within the PolG NRW and (2) chases back shortcomings to an incomplete understanding of privacy. Thereby, this thesis suggests that future policy crafting must consider processes that follow the collection of information as potentially harmful activities. By limiting privacy risks to information gathering, activities that belong to information processing and distribution remain largely unregulated, putting the individual at serious risk.

The Dynamics of Google within the Frame of a Large Technical System

The Large Technical System approach was introduced by the influential historian of technology, Thomas P. Hughes, in the 1970’s and is one of the most prominent theoretical frameworks within the Science and Technology Studies. However, it has found little attention in relation to the digital realm. This research applies the LTS framework onto the US-American company Google and seeks to bring a conceptual understanding to the company’s exponential growth. Thus, it describes the emergence and evolution of Google as a complex system – an alignment of components of technical and non-technical nature – and assigns patterns and concepts to its development. This research provides an answer to how Google not only gained a system structure but also reached the notion of momentum. Yet, suggesting a social constructivist path, this paper secludes by elucidating the influencing power of the LTS’s user – an important factor which was widely disregarded in the initial works of Hughes.

Transforming Society for the Better?

In 2014, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China released a document that called for the construction of a nationwide Social Credit System (SCS) with the goal to encourage sincerity and punish insincerity. The system uses blacklists that citizens land on for various cases of misbehavior, ranging from failing to pay a fine to being caught Jaywalking. This research explains the design process behind the SCS and in particular why many Chinese citizens are embracing this form of surveillance. It focuses on three topics to answer this question: the historical roots underlying the system, the perceived lack of trust in Chinese society and the comparison with concepts from surveillance theories developed in the West. From the analysis, following conclusions could be drawn: Historically, the state has often acted as a promoter and enforcer of moral virtue. The SCS fits perfectly into this tradition. The most prominent reason for the positive Chinese reaction is the lack of institutions in China that promote trust between citizens and businesses. There is a severe trust deficit which the government had to find a solution for. Regarding surveillance theory, Foucault’s concept of ‘panopticism’ shows similarities with the SCS and underlines its effectiveness in changing and steering people’s behavior while Lyon’s notion of ‘social sorting’ is used to demonstrate the potential dangers of the Chinese system.

Introduction

This article is the introduction to this MaRBLe issue.

A Submersion into Black Mirror’s Nosedive

This study is the result of a rather unique approach to the MaRBLe programme. Filed with the desire to explore the relationship between academic writings on surveillance and elements of popular culture that concern themselves with the modern dimension of surveillance, the author sought the opportunity offered by this programme to illustrate such relationship in an unedited and pedagogical way. To do so, an audio-guide companion to one of the most illustrative episodes of Black Mirror pertaining to surveillance theories, i.e. Nosedive, has been developed. This episode displays what appears to be a rather fertile ground for the illustration of surveillance theories as it unfolds in a general atmosphere where the norm is to watch, as much as being watched. This paper, in the form of a written reflective note, is thus dedicated to the emphasis of this project’s academic and societal relevance through the display of a thorough literature review on the field of surveillance theory, as well as the methodological logic behind the project.

International Differences in Prison Architecture

This paper examines the differences between the architecture of prisons in Germany and the United States (US). While in Germany, prison design is employed to maximize the privacy of the inmates as well as their freedom of movement, in the US, the close surveillance of the prisoner is regarded as a necessary component of his strict punishment. Several American politicians, academics, activists and journalists regard the German approach towards incarceration as a model that could potentially contribute to an improvement of the prison system in the US. A major obstacle on the way towards betterment are, however, the owners of numerous private American prisons, who employ their inmates under inhumane working conditions that are comparable to slavery. Within the context of this debate, I have interviewed three architects, Edgar Muth, Michael Eschwe and Michael Wächter, who all have either been or currently still are involved in the structural design of German prisons. Their descriptions of generously equipped cells, common residential groups and modernly designed showers draw an image of a prison system the United States could have one day, if the country would be willing to learn some lessons from the German example.

Transforming Society for the Better?

In 2014, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China released a document that called for the construction of a nationwide Social Credit System (SCS) with the goal to encourage sincerity and punish insincerity. The system uses blacklists that citizens land on for various cases of misbehavior, ranging from failing to pay a fine to being caught Jaywalking. This research explains the design process behind the SCS and in particular why many Chinese citizens are embracing this form of surveillance. It focuses on three topics to answer this question: the historical roots underlying the system, the perceived lack of trust in Chinese society and the comparison with concepts from surveillance theories developed in the West. From the analysis, following conclusions could be drawn: Historically, the state has often acted as a promoter and enforcer of moral virtue. The SCS fits perfectly into this tradition. The most prominent reason for the positive Chinese reaction is the lack of institutions in China that promote trust between citizens and businesses. There is a severe trust deficit which the government had to find a solution for. Regarding surveillance theory, Foucault’s concept of ‘panopticism’ shows similarities with the SCS and underlines its effectiveness in changing and steering people’s behavior while Lyon’s notion of ‘social sorting’ is used to demonstrate the potential dangers of the Chinese system.

International Differences in Prison Architecture

This paper examines the differences between the architecture of prisons in Germany and the United States (US). While in Germany, prison design is employed to maximize the privacy of the inmates as well as their freedom of movement, in the US, the close surveillance of the prisoner is regarded as a necessary component of his strict punishment. Several American politicians, academics, activists and journalists regard the German approach towards incarceration as a model that could potentially contribute to an improvement of the prison system in the US. A major obstacle on the way towards betterment are, however, the owners of numerous private American prisons, who employ their inmates under inhumane working conditions that are comparable to slavery. Within the context of this debate, I have interviewed three architects, Edgar Muth, Michael Eschwe and Michael Wächter, who all have either been or currently still are involved in the structural design of German prisons. Their descriptions of generously equipped cells, common residential groups and modernly designed showers draw an image of a prison system the United States could have one day, if the country would be willing to learn some lessons from the German example.

(De)Legitimizing Surveillance Revelations through the Media Lenses

This research interprets and explains how and why the British newspapers such as The Guardian, the Daily Mail, and The Independent, have (de)legitimized the NSA Snowden revelations of 2013. The study uses critical discourse analysis to understand what media framing techniques are used by the media sources and how can they be explained by looking at the core ideologies and news values of the newspapers. The corpus used for the analysis includes ninety articles in total, consisting of thirty per newspaper. The frames are identified using Entman’s (1993; 2005) definitions of media framing. They are then explained using the (de)legitimisation techniques by Van Leuuwen and Wodak (1999) in a comparative manner. The analysis reveals that The Guardian focuses on deligitimising surveillance and justifying their decision to cooperate with Edward Snowden on the basis of legality, public interest, morality, and power abuse. The Daily Mail legitimises surveillance using arguments concerning security, counterterrorism, and citizen protection while concentrating on Snowden’s personal life, love, lifestyle and character. The Independent follows an informative narrative to raise awareness about the scandal through a politically autonomous stance. It allows the readership to shape their opinion on the subject by presenting them with contra and pro surveillance arguments.

(De)Legitimizing Surveillance Revelations through the Media Lenses

This research interprets and explains how and why the British newspapers such as The Guardian, the Daily Mail, and The Independent, have (de)legitimized the NSA Snowden revelations of 2013. The study uses critical discourse analysis to understand what media framing techniques are used by the media sources and how can they be explained by looking at the core ideologies and news values of the newspapers. The corpus used for the analysis includes ninety articles in total, consisting of thirty per newspaper. The frames are identified using Entman’s (1993; 2005) definitions of media framing. They are then explained using the (de)legitimisation techniques by Van Leuuwen and Wodak (1999) in a comparative manner. The analysis reveals that The Guardian focuses on deligitimising surveillance and justifying their decision to cooperate with Edward Snowden on the basis of legality, public interest, morality, and power abuse. The Daily Mail legitimises surveillance using arguments concerning security, counterterrorism, and citizen protection while concentrating on Snowden’s personal life, love, lifestyle and character. The Independent follows an informative narrative to raise awareness about the scandal through a politically autonomous stance. It allows the readership to shape their opinion on the subject by presenting them with contra and pro surveillance arguments.