The acceptance of digital surveillance in an age of big data

Abstract

News media companies and human rights organizations have been increasingly warning about the rise of the surveillance state that builds on distrust and mass surveillance of its citizens. The COVID-19 pandemic is fostering digitalization and state-corporate collaboration, leading to the introduction of contact tracing apps and other digital surveillance technologies that bring about societal benefits, but also increase privacy invasion. This study examines citizens' concerns about their digital identity, the nation-state's intelligence activities, and the security of biodata, addressing their impacts on the trust in and acceptance of governmental use of personal data. Our analysis of survey data from 1,486 Canadians suggest that those concerns have negative impacts on citizens' acceptance of governmental use of personal data, but not necessarily on their trust in the nation-state being respectful of privacy. Government and corporations, it is concluded, should be more transparent about the collection and uses of data, and citizens should be more active in “watching the watchers” in the age of Big Data.