Surveillance and Citizenship
State-Media-Citizen Relations After the Snowden Leaks

18-19 June 2015
Cardiff University, UK

Conference and Workshop, as part of the ESRC project "Digital  
Citizenship and Surveillance Society", in collaboration with the  
"Unlike Us" network

The revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden have provided  
unprecedented insights into contemporary mass surveillance. They have  
prompted significant debates on the nature of civil rights in digital  
environments; the possibilities and challenges of secure  
communication; the nature of the security state; the quality of media  
coverage; and new threats to press freedom and political dissent.

Two years after the revelations started, the conference "Surveillance  
and Citizenship" will review their impacts and consequences for state  
policy, technological development, internet uses and the media. It  
will address the following questions:

• What is the policy environment for surveillance and the work of  
intelligence agencies? Which policy reform proposals have emerged?
• Which technical platforms have been particularly vulnerable; what  
tools exist for secure communication; and what standards are required  
for privacy protection?
• What is the level of public reaction? How do people perceive digital  
surveillance?
• What are the implications of surveillance for journalism, activism  
and social movements?
• Have the media reported accurately on the leaks? Which challenges  
have emerged for journalists?
• What is the nature of citizenship in the 'Snowden Era'?

The conference will combine academic analysis and practical workshops.  
It will include paper presentations, hackathons, and strategic  
workshops. We invite submissions of
• academic paper proposals on any of the above-mentioned subjects
• proposals for workshops, hackathons and practical project presentations.

In addition, the conference will serve to present preliminary research  
results by the research project "Digital Citizenship and Surveillance  
Society: UK State-Media-Citizen Relations after the Snowden Leaks".  
The collaborative project, hosted by Cardiff University, explores the  
nature, opportunities and challenges of digital citizenship in light  
of mass surveillance.

The conference will bring together leading UK and international  
scholars, and representatives of organisations such as Privacy  
International, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Tactical Tech, Open  
Rights Group, and the Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Submissions
Please submit a 300-500 word abstract to [log in to unmask]

Submission deadline: 15 February 2015

All submissions must include a title, author name(s), institutional  
affiliation(s) and full contact information (mailing address, email  
address). If you propose a workshop or practical demonstration, please  
provide a clear statement of purpose and a detailed description of  
activities, as well as any infrastructure requirements.

Information
The conference will take place in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.  
Cardiff can be reached from London by train (2 hours) or coach (3  
hours). Cardiff has an international airport and is also easily  
reachable from Bristol Airport and London Heathrow. Logistical  
information on the venue, hotels, etc. will be made available on  
http://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/dcssproject/

Further information about the conference: Jonathan Cable,  
[log in to unmask]

Conference organizing committee:
Dr Arne Hintz (Cardiff University), Prof Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (Cardiff  
University), Dr Lina Dencik (Cardiff University), Prof Ian Brown  
(Oxford University), Dr Michael Rogers (Briar Project, Technical  
University of Delft), Dr Jonathan Cable (Cardiff University)

For information about the ESRC project, see:  
http://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/dcssproject/
Conference announcement: http://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/dcssproject/conference/