Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Privacy Versus Security: Problems and Possibilities for the Trade-Off Model

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Reforming European Data Protection Law

Part of the book series: Law, Governance and Technology Series ((ISDP,volume 20))

Abstract

Considerable criticism has been levelled against thinking of privacy and security as being placed in a trade-off relation. Accepting this criticism, this paper explores to what use the trade-off model can still be put thereafter. In specific situations, it makes sense to think of privacy and security as simple concepts that are related in the form of a trade-off, even though it has been argued widely that this is a misrepresentation of concepts that are far too complex to be thought of in such a simple structure. As a first step, the sociotechnical analysis in this paper further highlights the complexities of the practice of body scanners installed at airports for security purposes. These complexities contribute additionally to rendering a simple privacy/security trade-off untenable. However, as a second step, the same analysis is thought through again so as to highlight opportunities to use the – deliberately simple – structure of the trade-off model to overcome part of its own shortcomings. At closer look, the empirical inaccuracy of the trade-off model becomes only problematic if it is used as a justification for imposing security measures that encroach privacy: “this small piece of privacy must be sacrificed, as this additional security is indispensable”. However, some right to existence is still retained for the trade-off model. Therefore, instead, it is suggested that the trade-off model be used on the one hand as a heuristic device to trace potential difficulties in the application of a security technology, and on the other hand as a framing that by its simplicity and appeal earns impetus for a particular discourse.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Euronews, “Obama Defends ‘Privacy Trade-Off’ for Security,” http://www.euronews.com/2013/06/07/obama-defends-privacy-trade-off-for-security/.

  2. 2.

    Marc van Lieshout et al., “Reconciling Privacy and Security,” Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research 26, no. 1–2 (2013).

  3. 3.

    Daniel J. Solove, ““I’ve Got Nothing to Hide” and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy,” (2007); Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2011); Jennifer Chandler, “Privacy Versus National Security: Clarifying the Trade-Off,” in On the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy and Identity in a Networked Society, ed. Ian Kerr, Valerie Steeves, and Carole Lucock (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).

  4. 4.

    George Gaskell et al., “Gm Foods and the Misperception of Risk Perception,” Risk Analysis 24, no. 1 (2004).

  5. 5.

    Louise Amoore, “Biometric Borders: Governing Mobilities in the War on Terror,” Political Geography 25, no. 3 (2006).

  6. 6.

    Solove, Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security.

  7. 7.

    David Wright et al., “Privacy, Trust and Policy-Making: Challenges and Responses,” Computer Law & Security Review 25, no. 1 (2009).

  8. 8.

    Lauren B. Movius, “U.S. And Eu Privacy Policy: Comparison of Regulatory Approaches,” International Journal of Communication 3(2009).

  9. 9.

    Lee S. Strickland and Laura E. Hunt, “Technology, Security, and Individual Privacy: New Tools, New Threats, and New Public Perceptions,” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 56, no. 3 (2005).

  10. 10.

    Solove, Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security.

  11. 11.

    Bruce Schneier, “Protecting Privacy and Liberty. The Events of 11 September Offer a Rare Chance to Rethink Public Security,” Nature 413, no. 25 October 2001 (2001).

  12. 12.

    Gaskell et al., “Gm Foods and the Misperception of Risk Perception.”

  13. 13.

    Chandler, “Privacy Versus National Security: Clarifying the Trade-Off.”

  14. 14.

    Vincenzo Pavone and Sara Degli Esposti, “Public Assessment of New Surveillance-Oriented Security Technologies: Beyond the Trade-Off between Privacy and Security,” Public Understanding of Science 21, no. 5 (2012).

  15. 15.

    Darren W. Davis and Brian D. Silver, “Civil Liberties Vs. Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America,” American Journal of Political Science (2004).

  16. 16.

    Movius, “U.S. And Eu Privacy Policy: Comparison of Regulatory Approaches.”

  17. 17.

    Samuel Warren and Louis D. Brandeis, “The Right to Privacy,” Harvard Law Review 193(1890).

  18. 18.

    Rachel L. Finn, David Wright, and Michael Friedewald, “Seven Types of Privacy,” in European Data Protection: Coming of Age, ed. Serge Gutwirth and Yves Poullet (Dordrecht: Springer, 2013).

  19. 19.

    For ‘enactment’, see John Law, “Actor Network Theory and Material Semiotics,” in The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, ed. Bryan S. Turner (Chichester: Blackwell, 2009); John Law and John Urry, “Enacting the Social,” Economy and Society 33, no. 3 (2004); John Law, After Method: Mess in Social Science Research (London, New York: Routledge, 2004).

  20. 20.

    Bruno Latour, Science in Action - How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1987); Michel Callon, “Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of Saint Brieuc Bay,” in Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge?, ed. John Law (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986); Madeleine Akrich and Bruno Latour, “A Summary of a Convenient Vocabulary for the Semiotics of Human and Nonhuman Assemblies,” in Shaping Technology, Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, ed. W. E. Bijker and J. Law (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992).

  21. 21.

    Ann Cavoukian, Privacy by Design: The 7 Foundational Principles (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, 2009).

  22. 22.

    Harry M. Collins and Robert Evans, “The Third Wave of Science Studies,” Social Studies of Science 32, no. 2 (2002); Brian Wynne, “Seasick on the Third Wave? Subverting the Hegemony of Propositionalism: Response to Collins and Evans (2002),” ibid. 33, no. 3 (2003); Sheila Jasanoff, “Breaking the Waves in Science Studies: Comment on H.M. Collins and Robert Evans, ‘the Third Wave of Science Studies’,” ibid.

  23. 23.

    David Collingridge, The Social Control of Technology (New York: St.-Martin’s Press, 1980).

  24. 24.

    Sarah Spiekermann, “Viewpoint: The Challenges of Privacy by Design,” Communications of the ACM 55, no. 7 (2012).

  25. 25.

    Seda F. Gürses, Carmela Troncoso, and Claudia Diaz, “Engineering Privacy by Design,” Computers, Privacy & Data Protection (2011).

  26. 26.

    Pavone and Esposti, “Public Assessment of New Surveillance-Oriented Security Technologies: Beyond the Trade-Off between Privacy and Security.”

  27. 27.

    Chandler, “Privacy Versus National Security: Clarifying the Trade-Off.”

  28. 28.

    Schneier, “Protecting Privacy and Liberty. The Events of 11 September Offer a Rare Chance to Rethink Public Security.”

  29. 29.

    Michel Callon, Pierre Lascoumes, and Yannick Barthe, Acting in an Uncertain World: An Essay on Technical Democracy (Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 2009).

  30. 30.

    Wynne, “Seasick on the Third Wave? Subverting the Hegemony of Propositionalism: Response to Collins and Evans (2002).”

Bibliography

  • Akrich, Madeleine, and Bruno Latour. “A Summary of a Convenient Vocabulary for the Semiotics of Human and Nonhuman Assemblies.” In Shaping Technology, Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, edited by W. E. Bijker and J. Law, 259–64. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amoore, Louise. “Biometric Borders: Governing Mobilities in the War on Terror.” Political Geography 25, no. 3 (2006): 336–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callon, Michel. “Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of Saint Brieuc Bay.” In Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge?, edited by John Law, 196–233. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callon, Michel, Pierre Lascoumes, and Yannick Barthe. Acting in an Uncertain World: An Essay on Technical Democracy. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavoukian, Ann. Privacy by Design: The 7 Foundational Principles. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, Jennifer. “Privacy Versus National Security: Clarifying the Trade-Off.” Chap. 7 In On the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy and Identity in a Networked Society, edited by Ian Kerr, Valerie Steeves and Carole Lucock, 121–38. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collingridge, David. The Social Control of Technology. New York: St.-Martin’s Press, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, Harry M., and Robert Evans. “The Third Wave of Science Studies.” Social Studies of Science 32, no. 2 (2002): 235–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, Darren W., and Brian D. Silver. “Civil Liberties Vs. Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America.” American Journal of Political Science (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  • Euronews. “Obama Defends ‘Privacy Trade-Off’ for Security.” http://www.euronews.com/2013/06/07/obama-defends-privacy-trade-off-for-security/.

  • Finn, Rachel L., David Wright, and Michael Friedewald. “Seven Types of Privacy.” In European Data Protection: Coming of Age, edited by Serge Gutwirth and Yves Poullet. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaskell, George, Nick Allum, Wolfgang Wagner, Nicole Kronberger, Helge Torgersen, Juergen Hampel, and Julie Bardes. “Gm Foods and the Misperception of Risk Perception.” Risk Analysis 24, no. 1 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gürses, Seda F., Carmela Troncoso, and Claudia Diaz. “Engineering Privacy by Design.” Computers, Privacy & Data Protection (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jasanoff, Sheila. “Breaking the Waves in Science Studies: Comment on H.M. Collins and Robert Evans, ‘the Third Wave of Science Studies’.” Social Studies of Science 33, no. 3 (2003): 389–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, Bruno. Science in Action - How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, John. “Actor Network Theory and Material Semiotics.” In The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, edited by Bryan S. Turner, 141–58. Chichester: Blackwell, 2009.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Law, John. After Method: Mess in Social Science Research. London, New York: Routledge, 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, John, and John Urry. “Enacting the Social.” Economy and Society 33, no. 3 (2004): 390–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieshout, Marc van, Michael Friedewald, David Wright, and Serge Gutwirth. “Reconciling Privacy and Security.” Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research 26, no. 1–2 (2013): 119–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Movius, Lauren B. “U.S. And Eu Privacy Policy: Comparison of Regulatory Approaches.” International Journal of Communication 3 (2009): 169–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavone, Vincenzo, and Sara Degli Esposti. “Public Assessment of New Surveillance-Oriented Security Technologies: Beyond the Trade-Off between Privacy and Security.” Public Understanding of Science 21, no. 5 (July 1, 2012): 556–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneier, Bruce. “Protecting Privacy and Liberty. The Events of 11 September Offer a Rare Chance to Rethink Public Security.” Nature 413, no. 25 October 2001 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  • Solove, Daniel J. ““I’ve Got Nothing to Hide” and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy.” (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  • Solove, Daniel J. Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security. New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spiekermann, Sarah. “Viewpoint: The Challenges of Privacy by Design.” Communications of the ACM 55, no. 7 (2012): 38–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strickland, Lee S., and Laura E. Hunt. “Technology, Security, and Individual Privacy: New Tools, New Threats, and New Public Perceptions.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 56, no. 3 (2005): 221–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, Samuel, and Louis D. Brandeis. “The Right to Privacy.” Harvard Law Review 193 (1890).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, David, Serge Gutwirth, Michael Friedewald, Paul De Hert, Marc Langheinrich, and Anna Moscibroda. “Privacy, Trust and Policy-Making: Challenges and Responses.” Computer Law & Security Review 25, no. 1 (2009): 69–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wynne, Brian. “Seasick on the Third Wave? Subverting the Hegemony of Propositionalism: Response to Collins & Evans (2002).” Social Studies of Science 33, no. 3 (2003): 401–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The empirical research underlying this paper was made possible by the ERC 7th Framework Programme, and was part of the PRISMS project (FP7-SEC-2010-285399, www.prismsproject.eu). An early version of the paper was presented and discussed during the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection 2014 conference. The author wishes to thank the volume editors and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Govert Valkenburg

Authors
  1. Govert Valkenburg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Govert Valkenburg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS), Faculty of Law and Criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Serge Gutwirth

  2. Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Ronald Leenes

  3. Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS), Faculty of Law and Criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Paul de Hert

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Valkenburg, G. (2015). Privacy Versus Security: Problems and Possibilities for the Trade-Off Model. In: Gutwirth, S., Leenes, R., de Hert, P. (eds) Reforming European Data Protection Law. Law, Governance and Technology Series(), vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9385-8_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation