Qualitative measurement of attitudes of citizens towards the cost, convenience and success of surveillance in the reduction, detection and/or prosecution of crimes

Objectives

To explore in depth the attitudes towards the cost, convenience and success of surveillance in the reduction, detection and/or prosecution of crimes.

Partners

P1RuG, P2UCLAN, P3UL, P4LSC, P5BBU, P6UiO, P7ULE, P8LIF, P9UU, P10UGOE, P11USFD, P12LUH, P14FMUNIBA, P15UoM, P16UNIVIE, P17MU, P18ECU, P19INTERPOL

Description of work

Group discussions (Focus Groups) will be carried out amongst citizens in the participating member states.  Discussions will follow a prepared guideline and be conducted by trained moderator.

Task 12.1       Development of discussion guidelines

Discussion guidelines will be developed to  investigate:

  • Citizens’ understanding of the implications of the types of technologies and applications  identified in WPs 2-8;
  • Citizens’  understanding of the implications of integration between different surveillance systems technology;
  • The beliefs and attitudes  of citizens  with regards to sharing of  personal information about themselves and others;
  • Citizens’ perceptions of the “security v. privacy trade-off” in surveillance.
  • Which additional factors may influence citizens’ decision to approve the state entering into a “security v. privacy trade-off” when deploying surveillance. Particular attention will be given to:
    • Security climate and level of threat, real or perceived;
    • Locations of deployment of surveillance;
    • Existence of laws and other appropriate safeguards;
    • Deployment or otherwise of specific technologies;
    • Length of storage of surveillance data;

The discussion guidelines will be submitted to the European Commission for comments and approval before the start of the task, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.

Task 12.2       Group Discussions

Group discussions (Focus Groups) will be carried out amongst citizens in the participating member states.  Each group will consist of between 8 to 10 participants. A minimum of two Group Discussions will be carried out in each participating country. The discussions will be led by a trained moderator. Where no trained moderator exists within the partner organizations training will be provided.

Task 12.3       Drafting of country reports

A country report will be prepared documenting the results of the group discussions in each country.

Task 12.4       Preparation of synthesised report

On the basis of all the country reports received, a synthesised report will be prepared.