Four sessions of the Workshop on “Society of Surveillance, Privacy and Human Rights” took place between 11 and 16 April.
The first session organized by the EXCHANGE project team was dedicated to an introduction to surveillance studies. Conducted by CECS researcher Helena Machado, the session sought to instigate critical debate on issues such as “what kinds of surveillance exist?”, “What cultural, political and economic impacts do they emerge?”, “What human rights are potentially constrained?” or “how does the debate between data protection and public security?”.
In the second session, Sara Matos and Sheila Kahn conducted a discussion on privacy and data protection. During the workshop, specific ideas were discussed such as “what does privacy mean?”, “What challenges do we face in relation to the new data protection regulation in the European Union?” and “what are the risks raised by Big Data?”.
The third session was given by Emília Araújo and addressed the theme of the challenges to sociological research. Emília Araújo presented the most important challenges that sociological research faces today, considering the new rules on data protection, as well as in the processes of science production. In several cases, the session discussed some of the methodological and ethical procedures established in the social sciences, accounting for their importance in current research contexts. The session also highlighted the need to rethink some of these procedures, highlighting the most appropriate practices related to data protection for the development and development of academic research projects.
Finally, the fourth session dealt with the question of the “Surveillance Society1: present and future”. Rafaela Granja and Marta Martins organized a debate around two issues: “How do new technologies reconfigure ‘old’ surveillance modalities?” and “what stigmatization settings arise? What methodologies can we use to study surveillance phenomena?” The debate focused on a critical approach to the implications of transnational judicial and police cooperation and on new ways of generating DNA crime suspects. The workshop ended with the screening of a film, followed by a discussion focused on the implications of the expansion of surveillance in everyday life.