What, How and for Whom? Data Collection in the Name of Security

19 May 2019, 11:00–12:30 @ Fotostiftung Schweiz, Grüzenstrasse 45, 8400 Winterthur Map

The panel was the last of four special events around Salvatore Vitale’s exhibition «How to Secure a Country» (23 February to 26 May 2019) at Fotostiftung Schweiz in Winterthur. In photographs, data analyses and a sensor-based installation, Vitale examines how the police, the military, customs and migration authorities, weather services, IT companies and research institutions produce security in Switzerland.

Fotostiftung invited Opendata.ch to design a programme for it. The result was a «performance talk» in English: Hannes Gassert spoke with Sandra Tobler (Futurae) and Hernâni Marques (Chaos Computer Club Switzerland) about how a society balances privacy and security, with reference to individual works in the exhibition.

Documentation and recordings

• Begleitheft zur Ausstellung (Fotostiftung Schweiz, PDF)
• Ausstellung «How to Secure a Country» bei der Fotostiftung Schweiz
• Sonderveranstaltungen zur Ausstellung (Webarchiv, April 2019)

Programme

1. 11:00–11:05
   Welcome and introduction

   What it is about: how much freedom we give up for our security — and what part data plays in it.

   Hannes GassertModeration, Opendata.ch
2. 11:05–11:20
   Introductions

   Sandra ToblerFuturaeHernâni MarquesChaos Computer Club Schweiz
3. 11:20–12:00
   Panel: what, how and for whom?

   To what extent does data create security? What data do companies and authorities collect, and how do they protect it? How do the private and public sectors work together, and where are the greatest security risks? Plus questions on individual works in the exhibition.

   Hannes GassertModeration, Opendata.chSandra ToblerFuturaeHernâni MarquesChaos Computer Club Schweiz
4. 12:00–12:20
   Questions from the audience
5. 12:20–12:30
   Data performance

   To close, a hack or data visualisations on Switzerland as a security state.

Host