Privacy Regimes, Crisis Strategies, and Governments’ Legitimizing of Digital Surveillance Technology: Comparing Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom

2024/04/28 by Jonas Lund-Tønnesen, Jonas Lund‐Tønnesen · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies #Government, Law, and Information Management #Privacy, Security, and Data Protection

paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/01900692.2024.2344105

openalex publication_date 2024/04/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/03/10

Abstract

The future trajectory of government surveillance is unmistakable: it is increasing.Yet, despite an increase in implemented surveillance measures, there is still a lack of understanding about the ways in which governments legitimize new surveillance measures and why that might vary across countries.This paper argues that ways of legitimizing digital surveillance technology are shaped by privacy regime legacies and overarching strategies of problem-solving when facing a crisis.With a cross-country comparison, the study finds both similar and different legitimacy strategies by governments in Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom.The analysis demonstrates the significance of historical privacy practices and governmental problem-solving capacities in shaping technological change and future directions for public administration.

Citations

• Using thematic analysis in psychology
• Strategies of legitimization in political discourse: From words to actions
• Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics
• Organizing for Crisis Management: Building Governance Capacity and Legitimacy
• Unpacking Nordic Administrative Reforms: Agile and Adaptive Governments
• A shift in paradigm? Collaborative public administration in the context of national digitalization strategies
• Digitalization of public sector organizations over time: The applicability of quantitative text analysis

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