WOPASS 2014 - Workshop on Privacy and Accountability for Surveillance Systems

Surveillance systems are becoming the tool of choice for protecting citizens and businesses in developed countries. Today, it is common to find their deployments in strategic places such as public transportation, airports, city centres, private business or residential areas. The constant feeling of insecurity due to crime and terrorist threats results in increasing public acceptance of surveillance systems. On the other hand, the lack of privacy guarantee and transparency raises opposition and creates a situation, in which surveillance systems employed to protect citizens against crime introduce new threats against their privacy and other fundamental rights. Emerging technologies are constantly appearing, making surveillance systems more effective. Amidst these technological breakthroughs, designed to improve our security, the issue of privacy arises. Notable examples of highly efficient technologies for security, like the Full Body Scanners introduced in US airports, show how neglecting privacy in the design of surveillance systems is a wrong approach. New lines of research and new engineering practices must be adopted to ensure that the privacy of individuals is appropriately taken into account during the design of surveillance systems in what we could call “security-privacy co-design”. This situation is aggravated by the lack of adequate sources of trusted information and consistent guidance to developers to design systems that respect not only the legal frameworks, but also the effects on the social and personal level. Additionally, the management of surveillance systems need to entail a certain level of trust and accountability, which should be built-in during the design phase.