GATHERINGS

Common Standards for Security, Privacy and Cost of the Surveillance of Public Gatherings

Summary

Local surveillance assemblages can be broken down into three constitutive and interrelated parts: technologies used, stakeholders involved and the data transfer between them. This project uses the notion of the 'surveillant assemblage' proposed by Haggerty & Ericson (2000) and inspired by Deleuze & Guattari (1988) as the starting point to provide a better understanding of how surveillance technologies are governed Surveillance practices threaten the privacy of citizens and visitors of public gatherings, but they also have a social impact and economic cost.

ACTIVITIES

The first overarching purpose of the GATHERINGS project consists of three ambitions:

  • to improve the efficacy of surveillance in order to render public gatherings safer

  • to increase the fairness and transparency of surveillance by making it more privacy-friendly,

  • to boost feasibility of surveillance for involved stakeholder by making it more cost-effective, both economically and socially.

The second overarching purpose is to identify gaps in terms of awareness among professionals and citizens, and bringing about international harmonisation of good practices and common standards with regard to the privacy-friendly, socially sensitive, cost-effective surveillance of safer public gatherings.

In order to respond to the call priorities, the GATHERINGS project will

  • develop common standards, to maximise privacy and data protection in surveillance practices

  • develop an accessible matrix, to be used by surveillance professionals, local administrations and event organisers, to weigh security against privacy, economic cost and social impact

  • set up an international network of surveillance professionals, administrations, experts, policy makers and citizens

  • develop an awareness-raising programme for citizens and civil society

  • develop an awareness-raising programme for surveillance professionals

  • formulate policy recommendations

  • search for synergies with other ongoing security research projects

PARTNERS

  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel VUB (Belgium)

  • Trilateral Research Ltd (Ireland)

  • Hochschule für den öffentlichen Dienst in Bayern (Germany)

  • VICESSE Research GmbH (Austria)

  • Bundesministerium für Inneres - BMI (Austria)

  • European Institute Foundation (Bulgaria)

  • Glavna Direktsia Nationalna Politsia (Bulgaria)

  • Kentro Meleton Asfaleias KEMEA (Greece)

  • Hellenic Police (Greece)

  • Globaz S.A. (Portugal)

 

CONTACTS

  • Roger von Laufenberg

  • Hannah Reiter

  • Reinhard Kreissl

RUNTIME

09/2023 - 08/2026

FUNDING

GATHERINGS has received funding by the European Union’s Horizon EUROPE research and innovation programme HORIZON-CL3-2022-FCT-01-04 under grant agreement no 101121200.

 
 
 

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