Privacy, Security and Politics: Current Issues and Future Prospects

Individual Privacy and National Security have been seen as notions with a conflicting impact. As seen in the UK general election 2017, security has taken a prominent role on the Conservative Party agenda while public perceptions on privacy were split. This paper reviews the election manifestos on privacy and security. We use the pre-election YouGov survey of 2017 UK respondents to understand views of the public by age groups and gender. While there is a general support for the legislation aimed at strengthening the national security and crime prevention, such as the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, the younger segment of UK population are increasingly concerned with the infringement of their privacy (both in traditional and online settings). These contrasting views may explain the outcome of the general election in 2017 and offer open questions for legislators.