Adam P. Warren

Airports, Localities and Disease: Representations of Global Travel During the H1N1 Pandemic

Abstract During summer 2009, the UK experienced one of the highest incidences of H1N1 infection outside of the Americas and Australia. Building on existing research into biosecurity and the spread of infectious disease via the global airline network, this paper explores the biopolitics of public health in the UK through an in-depth empirical analysis of the representation of H1N1 in UK national and regional newspapers. We uncover new discourses relating to the significance of the airport as a site for control and the ethics of the treatment of the traveller as a potential transmitter of disease. We conclude by highlighting how the global spread of infectious diseases is grounded in particular localities associated with distinctive notions of biosecurity and the traveller.

Knowledge nodes and international networks of connection: representations of private philanthropy by elite higher education institutions

This paper investigates the social and cultural geographies of large-scale individual giving in supporting the work of ‘elite’ international universities. With public funding of higher education in general decline, universities in countries of the global North are increasingly seeking funding from alternative sources, including private philanthropy. Although scholarly work has examined corporate and foundational giving to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), there has been little enquiry into how donations from wealthy individuals are represented by universities in their official literature. Publications such as annual reports, giving reports and campaign reports are used strategically by HEIs to project a global image. We examine the official literature of 50 elite HEIs located across the globe, uncovering new discourses into the cross-cultural reach of universities. We draw attention to complex social and cultural relations between HEIs and philanthropists, describing their encounters with reference to debates on personal mobilities, world-making and global and social inequalities. We conclude by highlighting the implications for theoretical work on ‘strategic philanthropy’ and on the transformative nature of HEIs as global centres of knowledge.

Right to privacy? The protection of personal data in UK public organisations

Aims to investigate and analyse the extent to which individual privacy is being protected by recent legislation in the UK – in particular, the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 and the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. Employees are monitored for compliance with the law, company policy and morality reasons. The HRA 1998 introduced a legal right to privacy. The DPA 1998 included manually processed data in addition to the computerised records covered by previous legislation. Such change poses considerable challenges to organisations. Information concerning employees can be excessive, inaccurate and kept for longer than necessary. It can also be insecure – for example, being held in unprotected directories. Investigates the legal challenge facing public organisations. Assesses the level of awareness and informed opinion of the recent information privacy legislation within such organisations. Refers to PhD fieldwork, and to the implications of the changes for libraries. Finally, draws conclusions about the advisability of good practice models.

Safeguarding public health at UK airports: an examination of current health security practices

Abstract In response to the H1N1 influenza outbreak and the role of air travel in facilitating the viruss rapid spread around the world, this paper contributes to debates concerning the governance of commercial aviation and infectious disease by examining the role of the Port Health Regulations and associated health security practices that are enacted at UK airports. Drawing on extensive action research and in-depth interviews that were conducted with key stakeholders in the aviation and health care sectors (including airport managers, ‘front-line’ customer-facing airline staff and public health clinicians) during the spring and early summer of 2009, we chart the development of sanitary regulations at UK airports and explore the challenges of performing health security screening at individual sites. In so doing, we identify a number of challenges that are associated with safeguarding public health against the dissemination of infectious diseases by air travel through UK airports. We also suggest that policy transfer may represent an effective mechanism through which best practice procedures from airports overseas could be adapted and incorporated in the UK.

From ‘shadowy cabal’ to new profession: Networks of cooperation and competition in UK Higher Education fundraising:

Recent UK government policy initiatives have encouraged universities to seek funding from philanthropic sources. Yet, there has been little investigation into the work of the emergent Higher Education professionals expected to deliver this additional income. In this paper, we consider the role of professional networks in facilitating knowledge exchange amongst university fundraisers. Through interviews with senior UK philanthropy professionals in the 1960s universities, we identify significant variations amongst professional networks and peer groups. We argue that professional networks are multi-layered and often exclusionary. Yet, among participants, these associations provide both open spaces of learning and a means of achieving competitive advantage. Moreover, the networks permit university philanthropy professionals to develop new distinctive identities, transcending the institutional and locational setting of their employing organisations. This paper advances theoretical debates on the complexities of knowledge exchange across spatial scales and the role of these networks in the establishment of a new profession.

Model of health? Distributed preparedness and multi-agency interventions surrounding UK regional airports

Abstract The liberalisation of the European aviation sector has multiplied paths of entry into the United Kingdom (UK) for the international traveller. These changing mobilities necessitate a reconceptualisation of the border as a series of potentially vulnerable nodes occurring within, and extending beyond, national boundaries. In this paper, we consider the border through the lens of port health, the collective term for various sanitary operations enacted at international transport terminals. In the UK, a critical player in the oversight of port health is the Health Protection Agency (HPA), which became a non-Departmental public body in 2005. A major part of port health is preparedness, a set of techniques aimed at managing, and responding to, emergencies of public health concern. More recently, certain jurisdictions have embarked on public health preparedness work across a number of different geographical scales. Using methods pioneered by the military, this form of ‘distributed preparedness’ is of increased interest to social science and medical scholars. With reference to case studies conducted in localities surrounding two UK regional airports following the 2009–10 H1N1 influenza pandemic, we consider the extent to which distributed preparedness as a concept and a set of practices can inform current debates - in the UK, and beyond - concerning interventions at the border ‘within’.

Privacy Impact Assessment in the UK

The adoption of PIAs in the UK is a recent development. Both it, and related initiatives such as “privacy by design”, pioneered by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ann Cavoukian1 (discussed further below), can be seen as indicative of a disenchantment amongst some regulators, including the UK’s national data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), with the largely reactive approach to regulation adopted by the EU Data Protection Directive and the national legislation which implements it.

Stolen Identity: Regulating the Illegal Trade in Personal Data in the 'Data-Based Society'

Abstract In May 2006, the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO) presented a report to Parliament entitled What Price Privacy? The report highlighted the extent of the illegal trade in personal data. Arguing that the risk of security breaches had increased largely as a result of the rise of the ‘data-based society’, the ICO called for a change in the legislation to permit jail sentences of up to 2 years. In February 2007, the UK government stated its intention to adopt that recommendation. This paper examines the current UK policy approach to regulating the illegal flow of personal information, and the lead taken by the UK Information Commissioner. Reference is made to the ‘privacy toolbox’, where data protection legislation is combined with measures such as codes of practice and privacy impact assessments (PIAs). Comparisons are made with the work of overseas regulators. In addition, the current regulatory framework regarding section 55 offences is examined, with the author attending an ICO prosecution hearing in December 2006. The paper concludes by arguing that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on the assessment of privacy risks posed, in particular, by the expansion and proposed merger of government databases. Adoption of PIAs could help achieve this.

Integration of roles? Implementing new information laws in UK public organizations

In April 2002, a government report Privacy and datasharing recommended that public organizations appoint Chief Knowledge Officers to integrate information-handling issues into decision-making processes. In the space of five years, a role that had previously been ascribed to clerical-level Data Protection Officers has changed out of all recognition. Significant legislation has been enacted including: a revised Data Protection Act 1998; the Human Rights Act 1998; the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and statutes concerning the interception and retention of communications data. Consequently, public sector organizations – such as local authorities, universities, health authorities and the police – have had to re-evaluate information-handling procedures, together with the roles and responsibilities of those employed in such posts. This article examines the steps public organizations are taking to meet such challenges. Results of studies using a questionnaire survey of public organizations, interviews with experts and 18 case studies are provided. In addition to increases in status of post holders, key observations include improved procedures for handling data subject access requests, enhanced staff training, and informing the public how their personal information is processed. The article concludes with recommendations for improved information-handling.

Privacy Impact Assessments: Engaging Stakeholders in Protecting Privacy

The adoption of PIAs in the UK is a recent development. Both it, and related initiatives such as “privacy by design”, pioneered by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ann Cavoukian1 (discussed further below), can be seen as indicative of a disenchantment amongst some regulators, including the UK’s national data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), with the largely reactive approach to regulation adopted by the EU Data Protection Directive and the national legislation which implements it.