The antecedents of citizens' privacy concerns in the context of surveillance and security measures: a cross-national analysis

By taking into account the debate on the balance between privacy and security (i.e., between security and civil liberties), particularly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this study investigates the factors that affect citizens’ concerns about privacy across eight countries. In this regard, it examines the impact of mass surveillance on the public. Employing the “Antecedents of Privacy Concerns and Outcomes (APCO) Macro Model,” this study attempts to find support for the understudied and tenuous relationship between antecedents and privacy concerns. In addition, it looks at variations between antecedents and concerns across the countries included in the sample. Furthermore, the study raises some questions about the hierarchy of competing rights. The study hypothesizes that citizens’ knowledge of laws, perceived type of media coverage, and experience with surveillance measures are positively associated with their privacy concerns, while regime type, terrorism, confidence in government, and privacy regulations are negatively associated with privacy concerns. It applies quantitative research methods by conducting bivariate and multivariate analysis. Results show that experience with surveillance measures increases citizens’ privacy concerns, while recent experience with terrorism shifts the focus of citizens towards security, thereby reduces their privacy concerns. In addition, the democracy score of a country was not found to necessarily explain the intensity of surveillance, quality of privacy regulations, and citizens’ confidence in government. The study offers policy implications in terms of balancing competing rights and reducing citizens’ privacy concerns. Consequently, it suggests that with technological advances and globalization, the threat of terrorism becomes global, while privacy concerns significantly differs across cultures. Important events do affect the level of concerns.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Suray Duygul