State surveillance in the digital age: Factors associated with citizens' attitudes towards trust registers
Katja Turha, Simon Vrhovec, Igor Bernik
TL;DR
This study defines trust registers as an umbrella for state surveillance systems beyond China and investigates Western acceptance using a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework augmented with privacy concerns and trust in government. Employing a cross-sectional CB-SEM analysis of Slovenian social-media users (N=147), the authors find that attitude toward trust registers is directly linked to perceived general usefulness, which itself is shaped by perceived usefulness for national security, crime prevention, and perceived ease of use. Privacy concerns influence usefulness primarily through data-collection concerns, with most other privacy dimensions showing no direct effect on attitude; trust in government does not predict attitude in this Western context. The findings offer practical messaging guidance for any potential Western implementations and contribute to the literature on technology acceptance, privacy, and state surveillance, while acknowledging limitations related to sample representativeness and scope.
Abstract
This paper investigates factors related to the acceptance of trust registers (e.g., the Chinese Social Credit System - SCS) in Western settings. To avoid a negative connotation, we first define the concept of trust register which encompasses surveillance systems in other settings beyond China, such as FICO in the US. Then, we explore which factors are associated with people's attitude towards trust registers leaning on the technology acceptance and privacy concern theories. A cross-sectional survey among Slovenian Facebook and Instagram users (N=147) was conducted. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was used to test the hypothesized associations between the studied constructs. Results indicate that attitude towards trust register is directly associated with perceived general usefulness of the trust register. Additionally, perceived general usefulness is associated with perceived usefulness of the trust register for ensuring national security and fighting crime, its ease of use, and privacy concern regarding data collection. As one of the first studies investigating attitude towards trust registers in a Western country, it provides pioneering insights into factors that may be relevant in case such registers would be implemented in a Western context, and provides some practical implications regarding messaging for would-be implementers of such systems.