ePOOLICE Security Technology - Fighting Organized Crime Whilst Balancing Privacy and National Security
Anne Gerdes · University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) · 2015
This paper deals with the challenge of balancing privacy and national security in connection with environmental scanning systems, such as the ePOOLICE system (www.ePOOLICE.eu), which is currently under development. ePOOLICE aims at developing an environmental scanning system for fighting organized crime by improving law enforcement agencies opportunities for strategic proactive planning in response to emerging organized crime threats. Section 1 presents the overall aims of the ePOOLICE project, as an example of security technology within the field of environmental scanning systems for early warning, followed by a discussion of national security versus citizens' right to privacy (section 2). Here, it is argued that core issues should not be addressed as a strict dichotomy of realms, formulated in a clash between citizens right to privacy as opposed to national security; rather we have to strike a balance between two dimensions of security at a national and individual level. Hence, security can be defined as nonattendance of danger at a state level, as well as at a societal level with reference to the citizens forming the society. Moreover - as discussed in section 3 - it is generally acknowledged that trust is essential for a flourishing society and that relations of trust are easily maintained and better preserved in moral communities with relatively low crime rates. Yet, at the same time - and especially important to be aware of in the context of security technology - societal trust basically rests on the ability of citizens to rely on that in interacting with others and governmental authorities, their integrity and autonomy will be respected; and to provide for this, privacy is a highly held value, which has to be properly protected. Accordingly, in the specific context of this paper, democratic societies are faced with the challenge of striking a balance between two sides of security; formulated as absence of organized crime threats and preservation of the freedom and integrity of the individual as important presumptions for democracy. Consequently, security technologies, such as the ePOOLICE system, have to find ways to balance data utility and data privacy.