Paper long abstract:

Contemporary surveillance societies feature complex cyberphysical datascapes, with BIG DATA techniques being applied in all kinds of areas and by various kinds of organizations. In those datascapes established structural principles, such as the public/private distinction come under severe pressure. Now, when delving into the privacy discourse it becomes clear that the overwhelming majority of participants draw on a fundamentally individualistic notion of privacy. Whereas there has been a lot of criticism regarding this individualism it still seems disproportionate to drop the long standing concept of privacy too hastily. Here STS approaches may enable us to have our cake and eat it too, for it seems easily possible for them to conceive of the collective production of individuality. Thus, it becomes possible to de-individualize but nevertheless stick to the notion of privacy. E.g., "Selbstdatenschutz" ("self-data-protection") is constantly propagated in German discourse as a way to resist BIG DATA-related surveillance strategies: the individual self is called upon to produce her own privacy by technical means (i.e. PETs). When applying STS instruments it becomes clear, though, that also practices of "Selbstdatenschutz" require to, be produced and maintained collectively. This being revealed, it becomes impossible for government representatives and economic players to shift the responsibility for ensuring privacy on to "isolated" individuals in some governmentality fashion. It is for these - sociological as well as political - reasons that I would like to plead for STS privacy research in digital datascapes. My plea will combine general STS insights with an analysis of the "Selbstdatenschutz" discourse.