Surveillance and Citizenship: State-Media-Citizen Relations After the Snowden Leaks

Thursday 18 – Friday 19, June 2015

Hosted by Dr Arne Hintz of Cardiff University, an Ethics and Rights in a Security Context award holder, the conference is part of the ESRC project ‘Digital Citizenship and Surveillance Society’, in collaboration with the ‘Unlike Us’ network. 

The revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden have provided unprecedented insights into contemporary mass surveillance. They have prompted significant debates on the nature of civil rights in digital environments; the possibilities and challenges of secure communication; the nature of the security state; the quality of media coverage; and new threats to press freedom and political dissent.

Two years after the revelations started, the conference will review their impacts and consequences for state policy, technological development, internet uses and the media. It will combine academic analysis and practical workshops and include paper presentations, hackathons and strategic workshops, seeking to address the following questions: 

• What is the policy environment for surveillance and the work of intelligence agencies? Which policy reform proposals have emerged?
• Which technical platforms have been particularly vulnerable; what tools exist for secure communication; and what standards are required for privacy protection?
• What is the level of public reaction? How do people perceive digital surveillance?
• What are the implications of surveillance for journalism, activism and social movements?
• Have the media reported accurately on the leaks? Which challenges have emerged for journalists?
• What is the nature of citizenship in the ‘Snowden Era’?

 

For further information visit the project website.