TimesMore
Americans than Canadians (almost half) find anti-terrorism laws
Timesintrusive
– Queen’s international surveillance survey finds
TimesQueen’s
Surveillance Project benchmarks global attitudes about being watched
TimesKINGSTON, Ont. –
Almost half of Canadians and even more Americans say they find
Timesnew laws aimed at
protecting national security post 9/11 intrusive.
Times
TimesThat’s just one of the
wide-ranging findings of a survey on the surveillance and privacy
Timesattitudes and
experiences of 9,000 people in eight countries initiated by the Queen’s
TimesUniversity-based
Surveillance Project. The multi-disciplinary group is studying the
TimesGlobalization of
Personal Data (GPD) and the surveillance associated with that flow – by
Timesgovernments,
employers, and via technologies like personal computers, biometrics and
Timesglobal-positioning
systems – on ordinary people.
Times
Times“We are seeing a high
level of concern in many parts of the world about the intrusiveness
Timesof these post 9/11
laws. Most surprising is the strong American reaction to its new
Timesnational security laws
– 15 per cent said these laws were highly intrusive,”
says Elia
TimesZureik, lead
researcher.
Times
TimesThis is believed to be
the first cross-cultural study of its kind that explores relationships
Timesbetween attitudes and
experiences, and how much people trust corporations and
Timesgovernments to handle
personal information, including the sharing of such information
Timeswith third parties,
the researcher says.
Times
TimesFunded by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and
Timesconducted by Ipsos
Reid, the survey included nearly 50 questions on participant’s
Timesattitudes about issues
like consumer surveillance, racial profiling at airports, national ID
Timescards, media coverage
of surveillance issues, workplace privacy, knowledge of privacy
Timesregulations, control
over personal data and public trust in government.
Times
TimesTheir answers reveal a
variety of cultural commonalities and differences culled from
Timesparticipants in
Canada, the U.S., China, France, Spain, Hungary, Mexico and Brazil.
Times
TimesHighlights
Times
TimesAcross the globe a
majority of respondents:
• Timesbelieve surveillance
laws are intrusive (U.S. 57 per cent, Canada 48 per cent,
TimesSpain 53 per cent,
Mexico 46 per cent, Brazil 41 per cent, France 40 per cent )
• Timesworry about
providing personal information on websites (China 54 per cent,
TimesCanada 66 per cent,
Brazil 70 per cent, Spain 62 per cent and U.S. 60 per cent).
• Timesbelieve the use of
closed circuit television deters in-store crime (Mexico 88 per
Timescent, U.S. 80 per
cent, Canada 79 per cent, France 73 per cent).
• Timesrejected out-right
the premise that airport authorities should give extra security
Timeschecks to visible
minority passengers. About 60 per cent of Chinese, Hungarians,
TimesBrazilians, and
Canadians but only a third of Americans found such practices
Timesunacceptable.
Times
TimesCulturally distinctive
survey findings include:
• Times63 per cent of
Chinese respondents trust the government to protect the personal
Timesinformation it
collects compared to just 48 per cent of Canadians and a mere 20
Timesper cent of Brazilians
say they trust their respective governments with their
Timespersonal information.
• TimesThe majority of
respondents do not believe that they have much say in what
Timeshappens to their
personal information. Only roughly 30 per cent of Canadians,
TimesAmericans, Spaniards
and Hungarians believe they have complete or a lot of say.
TimesChinese and French
respondents felt they had the most say at 67 and 60 per cent,
Timescompared with Mexicans
40 per cent and Brazilians 34 per cent.
• TimesEighty-two percent
of Canadians and 80 percent of Americans report themselves
Timesas being knowledgeable
about the Internet compared to just 35 percent of
TimesMexicans and 33
percent of Brazilian respondents.
Times
Times“We have learned that
there is an urgent need to educate the public about the
Timescomplexities of the
information age, to demand organizational and governmental
Timesaccountability with
regard to handling personal data, and to develop appropriate theory to
Timesexplain and predict
flows of personal data and to connect this with privacy ethics and
Timesgovernment policy,”
Dr. Zureik says.
Times
TimesA team of
international surveillance experts will meet at Queen’s later this
week to
Timesfurther study the data
collected by survey.
Times
TimesFor more information
on the Surveillance Project, an executive summary of the GPD
Timessurvey findings or pdf
version of the survey’s Ipsos Reid report, go to:
Times0000,0000,FFFFhttp://www.queensu.ca/sociology/Surveillance/
Times
TimesTo learn more about
Research at Queen's
0000,0000,FFFFhttp://www.queensu.ca/research/
Times
TimesContact:
TimesSarah Withrow,
613-533-3280, [log in to unmask]
TimesLorinda Peterson,
613-533-3234, [log in to unmask]
TimesAttention
broadcasters: Queen's now has facilities to provide broadcast quality
audio
Timesand video
feeds. For television interviews, we can provide a live, real-time
double ender
Timesfrom Kingston
fibre optic cable and broadcast quality radio transmissions from our
on campus
Timesstudio. Please
call for details.
Arial
Arial0000,0000,8080Joan
Sharpe
Arial0000,0000,8080Project
Manager, The Surveillance Project
Arial0000,0000,8080c/o
Department of Sociology
Arial0000,0000,8080Queen's
University
Arial0000,0000,8080Kingston,
ON K7L 3N6
Arial0000,0000,8080(613)
533-6000, ext. 78867
Arial0000,0000,8080(613)
533-6499 FAX
Arial0000,0000,FFFFhttp://www.queensu.ca/sociology/Surveillance
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