Watching the watchers: strengthening public oversight of intelligence driven surveillance
This four year research project seeks to strengthen public oversight of digital surveillance for intelligence purposes, with a specific focus on southern Africa. Digitisation has provided intelligence agencies with the capabilities to conduct surveillance at an unprecedented scale, which requires effective oversight to limit the potential for abuse. In many countries, oversight is usually carried out by official institutions such as Parliament, courts, independent statutory offices, or an ombudsman, whose role is to monitor and review surveillance capabilities to ensure that intelligence agencies use them effectively and lawfully. However, across southern Africa - where digital surveillance is expanding - these official oversight institutions typically lack the power and resources to perform these functions. Consequently, oversight in these countries typically is conducted by the public through, for instance, challenging unjustifiable secrecy, publicising abuses and organising campaigns to rein these agencies in. Through comparative case study research exploring lessons from key moments when public oversight has been attempted in the region, this research uses a mixed methods approach to explore these issues in eight southern African countries (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo ((DRC)), Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique) and seeks to establish whether public oversight has succeeded, failed, or achieved mixed outcomes.
Principal Investigator
Professor Jane Duncan (recipient - British Academy Global Professorship)
Researchers
Dr Allen Munoriyarwa (coordinator – University of Botswana)
Dr Rui Verde (University of Oxford)
Prof Sarah Chiumbu (University of Johannesburg)
Prof Trésor Maheshe Musole (Catholic University of Bukavu – Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mr Frederico Links (Institute for Public Policy Research – Namibia)
Prof Tachilisa Badala Balule (University of Botswana)
Prof Ernesto Nhanhale (Media Institute for Southern Africa - Mozambique and Higher School of Journalism, Maputo)
Project dates
January 2023 – January 2028
Funder
British Academy
Contact
Professor Jane Duncan (Jane.Duncan@glasgow.ac.uk)