Holding surveillant power to account: Democratic problems & solutions

1. Holding surveillant power to account: Democratic problems & solutions Prof. Vian Bakir Bangor University, UK

2. təʊˌtalɪˈtɛːrɪənɪz(ə)m,təˌtalɪˈtɛːrɪənɪz(ə)m/ noun noun: totalitarianism a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.

3. Totalitarianism (Wikipedia) a mode of government, which prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life … eg via mass surveillance

4. US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor - Edward Snowden

7. What do they collect? • content of communications • email, instant messages, • search term in Googlesearch, • full web browsing histories. • metadata • who internet/telephony communications is from & to whom; • when it was sent; • duration of contact; • from where it was sent; to where; • record of web domains visited; • mobile phone location data.

8. Is it intimate data? YES! • When combined, content and metadata build a rich picture of your life, thoughts, online reading habits etc.

10. Is it intimate data? YES! • When combined, content and metadata build a rich picture of your life, thoughts, online reading habits etc. • Consider: • data diversity • data storage • data linkage

11. veillant panoptic assemblage State intelligence agencies rely on commercial communications platforms to extract data a dystopian arrangement of unequal mutual watching

12. veillant panoptic assemblage surveillant assemblage(commercial data platforms) produce stock of analysable material that panopticon(state surveillance apparatus) appropriates

13. (Steve Mann) Veillance- processes of mutual watching/monitoring by surveillant organizations & sousveillant individuals Surveillance-monitoring from position of power by those who aren’t a participant to the activity being watched Sousveillance-monitoring from position of minimal power, & by those participating in the activity being watched Equiveillance- equality between surveillant & sousveillant forces - a ‘transparent society’

14. I argue here , here and here that we need to increase civil society’s capacity to hold surveillant power to account

15. How? (a) Robust oversight mechanisms of intelligence agencies, via legislatures, judiciaries & press

16. How? (a) Robust oversight mechanisms of intelligence agencies, via legislatures, judiciaries & press BUT: - Oversight mechanisms are weak (secretive, co-opted, uninformed) - Secret, broad, vague intelligence-sharing agreements eg 43 Eyes (incl. Slovenia) - Uncritical journalism

17. How? (b) A move away from the ‘Collect it All’ mentality of commercial platforms

18. How? (b) A move away from the ‘Collect it All’ mentality of commercial platforms …. • BUT: • Commercial imperative to generate more refined & targeted insights into consumers • Intelligence Agencies also want to Collect it All …

19. How? (c) Commit to prevent chilling effects & drift to tyranny (NSA leaked document in Glenn Greenwald’s No Place to Hide)

20. How? (c) Commit to prevent chilling effects …. • Chilling effects observed in: • page views of Wikipediaarticles on terrorism • usage of Facebook • decline in ‘privacy-sensitive’ search terms on Googlethat could get users into trouble with US government • Americans’ unwillingness to discuss Snowden story in social media • self-censorship of American writers post-Snowden • 14% of US investigative journalists gave up on a story or source because of surveillance fears

21. How? (c) Commit to prevent drift to tyranny/totalitarianism • Privacy International documents sale of mass surveillance architecture to authoritarian governments: • Big Brother Incorporated (1995) • The Global Surveillance Industry (2016) • Surveillance Industry Index (SII)

22. Privacy International

23. Drift to totalitarianism? ‘It’s now technically possible to monitorentire groups and nations on a mass scale, systematically and relatively cheaply. This poses a fundamental threat to individuals security, civil society, human rights, as well as democracy itself.’ (Privacy International)

24. What is to be done? Increase civil society’ capacity to hold surveillant power to account. (a) Demand more robust oversight mechanisms of intelligence agencies via by legislatures, judiciaries & press (b) Demand a move away from the ‘Collect it All’ mentality of commercial platforms (c) Commit to prevent chilling effects & drift to tyranny