Beliefs and attitudes of citizens in Austria towards smart surveillance and privacy

Abstract

This document presents the Austrian results of a qualitative study undertaken as part of the SMART project - "Scalable Measures for Automated Recognition Technologies" (SMART; G.A. 261727). The analysis and results are based on a set of 3 focus group discussions comprising of 19 participants from different age groups, which were held in order to examine the awareness, understanding, beliefs and attitudes of ctitizens towards smart surveillance and privacy. The focus group discussions were conducted in line with a discussion guide consisting of different scenarios aimed at stimulating a discussion among participants. While some scenarios dealt with surveillance in everyday contexts likely to be encountered by the participants, other scenarios were hypothetical in nature and their aim was to elicit the participants' feelings, beliefs and attitudes in relation to dataveillance, the massive integration of data from different sources, and the "security versus privacy" trade-off. ; Scalable Measures for Automated Recognition Technologies (G.A. 267127). The project was co-financed by the European Union within the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013). ; peer-reviewed