The data privacy / national security balancing paradigm as applied in the USA and Europe: Achieving an acceptable balance

Abstract

The overall research question addressed in this thesis is the data privacy/national security balancing paradigm, and the contrasting ways in which this operates in Europe and the U.S. Within this framework, the influences causing the balance to shift in one direction or another are examined: for example, the terrorist attacks on two U.S. cities in 2001 and in various countries in Europe in the opening decade of the new millennium and the revelations by Edward Snowden in 2013 of the details of U.S. mass surveillance practices.

The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part deals with European attitudes and practices in relation to the balancing paradigm. The second part deals with U.S. attitudes and practices on the same basis. It deals with the influence of the various branches of Government in determining this balance. In the third part, consideration is given to the contracts and similarities between the U.S. and Europe in relation to the balancing process, and in particular to the factors underlying the contrasts. The conclusion to the thesis gives details of the findings arrived at.