<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Users of digital media leave traces that corporations and authorities can harvest, systematise, and analyse; on the societal level, an overall result is the emergence of a surveillance culture. In this study, we examine how people handle the dilemma of leaving digital footprints: what they say they do to protect their privacy and what could legitimise the collection and storing of their data. Through a survey of almost 1,000 students at Umeå University in Sweden, we find that most respondents know that their data are used and choose to adjust their own behaviour rather than adopting technical solutions. In order to understand contemporary forms of surveillance, we call for a humanistic approach – an approach where hermeneutic and qualitative methods are central.</p>
</abstract>

Users of digital media leave traces that corporations and authorities can harvest, systematise, and analyse; on the societal level, an overall result is the emergence of a surveillance culture. In this study, we examine how people handle the dilemma of leaving digital footprints: what they say they do to protect their privacy and what could legitimise the collection and storing of their data. Through a survey of almost 1,000 students at Umeå University in Sweden, we find that most respondents know that their data are used and choose to adjust their own behaviour rather than adopting technical solutions. In order to understand contemporary forms of surveillance, we call for a humanistic approach – an approach where hermeneutic and qualitative methods are central.

Online Surveillance in a Swedish Context: Between acceptance and resistance

Department of Historical Philosophical and Religious Studies

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Online Surveillance in a Swedish Context: Between acceptance and resistance"}

Users of digital media leave traces that corporations and authorities can harvest, systematise, and analyse; on the societal level, an overall result is the...

Online Surveillance in a Swedish Context: Between acceptance and resistance

Published Online: Dec 18, 2020

Page range: 179 - 193

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0022

Keywords
online surveillance, surveillance culture, soft surveillance, privacy paradox, digital humanities

© 2020 Coppélie Cocq et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Online Surveillance in a Swedish Context: Between acceptance and resistance

Published Online: Dec 18, 2020

Page range: 179 - 193

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0022

Keywordsonline surveillance, surveillance culture, soft surveillance, privacy paradox, digital humanities

© 2020 Coppélie Cocq et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
online surveillance, surveillance culture, soft surveillance, privacy paradox, digital humanities