Ana María Lara Palma

The view from the gallery: international comparison of attitudes to Snowden's revelations about the NSA/GCHQ

The series of revelations made by Edward Snowden revelations starting on 5th June 2013 exposed a true picture of state surveillance or, more precisely, surveillance conducted by an industrial-government complex in the democratic nations. His revelations have attracted heavy doses of both praise and censure; whereas some have positively evaluated his deed as an act of valour to protect democracy against the tyranny of the state, others have criticised him as a traitor to his country that have been preoccupied with responses to the threat of terrorism since the 9.11 attacks. Indeed, the US government filed charges of spying against him on 21st June, and he is forced to live in exile in Moscow. He said that only the American people could decide whether sacrificing his life was worth it by their response [10]. The Pew Research Foundation found in a survey that although Americans are deeply split on whether Snowdens actions served or harmed the public interest, that younger groups regarded his actions as more beneficial than harmful when compared with older groups Inspired by the Pew Research Foundations surveys [13, 14], an international group of academics led by the authors of this paper have conducted surveys on young people (students at their universities) about their attitudes to privacy online, and the actions of Bradley/Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden in separate and different modes of grand leaks. This survey has been deployed in China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and Taiwan. with further deployments expected.

Virtual Teams in Higher Education: A Review of Factors Affecting Creative Performance

Many studies have shown how teams improve their effectiveness and efficiency when a composition and skills balance is properly managed. Creativity has been an ignored variable, especially in virtual contexts. Contextual factors provoke significant differences between traditional team work and the virtual team work. Some authors suggest that virtual environment can achieve higher levels of creativity due to greater openness, flexibility, diversity and access to information compared to traditional conditions. However, building trust and team cohesiveness in virtual structures could be more difficult and creative performance can be affected, decreasing innovative solutions. We focus our study in critical aspects of creative performance that should be taking into consideration in emerging eLearning collaborative processes in higher education.

Information surveillance by governments: impacts of Snowden's revelations in Spain

This study investigates the attitudes towards and social impacts of Edward Snowdens revelations in Spain through a questionnaire survey answered by students in two Spanish universities (Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Burgos University). It is part of the worldwide cross-cultural analyses about privacy perceptions in young people. The survey results take into socio-cultural and political environment.

Young people do care: Snowden's revelations have had an effect in New Zealand

This study investigates the attitudes towards and social impacts of Edward Snowdens revelations in New Zealand through a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews with New Zealand youngsters as part of the worldwide cross-cultural analyses. The survey results showed striking contrasts with those in other countries reflecting New Zealands socio-cultural and political environment.

So what if the state is monitoring us?: Snowden's revelations have little social impact in Japan

This study investigates the attitudes towards and social impacts of Edward Snowdens revelations in Japan through a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews with Japanese youngsters as part of an international cross-cultural analyses. The survey results showed striking contrasts with ones in other countries reflecting the Japanese socio-cultural and political environment.

A closed model for measuring intangible assets: a new dimension of profitability applying neural networks

The definition of a model should contain something more than purely conceptual development. Its discriminatory characteristics should harbour, in practice, the intention to uncover unknown opportunities in times of globalization. Quantification of the intangible value of the service sector must become another management strategy; thereby consolidating the wealth of each company and gearing up -just like in a mechanism- the variables that can predict the value of these environments which are abound in opportunities, something that has been hardly considered until lately. The rest of this paper deals with the development of M6PROK (Model of the Six Profitability Stages of Knowledge) using an artificial neural architecture. M6PROK is a mirror in which companies can look at themselves and whose reflection should provide a basis for the solution of issues concerning the profitability that knowledge brings about and the awareness of this, as well as supporting decision-making processes to consolidate business strategies.

Surveillance Following Snowden: A Major Challenge in Spain

Purpose This study aims to analyse the impacts of Edward Snowden’s revelations in Spain focusing on issues of privacy and state surveillance. This research takes into consideration the Spanish context from a multidimensional perspective: social, cultural, legal and political. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews the Spanish privacy and state surveillance situation. Responses to a questionnaire were collected from 207 university students studying at Universitat Rovira i Virgili or Burgos University. The quantitative responses to the survey were statistically analysed as well as qualitative considerations of free-text answers. Findings The survey outcomes demonstrate that a majority of respondents are aware of Snowden’s revelations, but only a few have even considered taking serious actions to improve their online privacy. One of the most relevant findings is that Spanish citizens find it acceptable to lose privacy and be subject to state surveillance if that provides a benefit in security. Practical implications The research points out the importance of privacy in a multicultural environment. A sensitised society is a keystone for the healthy and balanced development of state surveillance policy and practice. Social implications Training programmes are a critical dimension to ensure awareness across society regarding privacy and digital technologies. Suitable educational policies and curricula at all levels should be fostered. Originality/value Privacy and state surveillance based on information and communication technologies is an emerging research topic with important consequences for social values and ethics. This study provides an overview of Spanish higher education students’ attitudes in these areas.

Following Snowden: an international survey

Purpose This paper aims to present the baseline English survey used in the other papers in this special issue. Design/methodology/approach The survey includes yes/no, Likert scale and free text responses, which were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings Respondents to the survey expressed divergent views of whether they would emulate Snowden, even though most in all countries believed he had helped rather than harmed society. Originality/value This is the only such broad survey on attitudes to Snowden of which the authors are aware.

Following Snowden: a cross-cultural study on the social impact of Snowden’s revelations

Purpose This paper aims to introduce a cross-cultural study of the views and implications of Snowden’s revelations about NSA/GCHQ surveillance practices, undertaken through surveys administered in eight countries. The aims and academic and social significance are explained, and justification is offered for the methods used. Design/methodology/approach Pilot surveys were deployed in two countries, following which revised versions were deployed in eight countries (including expanded collection in the original pilot countries). Quantitative analysis of suitable answer sets (Yes/No; Likert scales) and quantitative analysis (interpretation of free text answers) were performed. Findings Through the pilot survey studies conducted in Japan and Spain, the academic significance and meaningfulness, as well as social significance of the project, were confirmed. Practical implications The results of the cross-cultural study are expected to contribute not only to the advance of surveillance study but also to the enhancement of ordinary, non-technical people’s awareness of state surveillance and their proactive approach to protecting their own rights and dignity from covert intrusion by government agencies. Originality/value This paper clarifies the importance and methodologies of investigating the social impact of Snowden’s revelations on youngsters’ attitudes toward privacy and state surveillance in a cross-cultural analysis framework. Although a few other studies have assessed the impact of Snowden’s revelations, these have mostly focussed on the USA, so this is the only study to date considering that impact on a broad international scale, using highly similar surveys to ensure comparability.

Following Snowden Around the World: International Comparison of Attitudes to Snowden's Revelations about the NSA/GCHQ

Purpose A survey of the attitudes of students in eight countries towards the revelations of mass surveillance by the US’ NSA and the UK’s GCHQ has been described in an introductory paper and seven country-specific papers (The People’s Republic of China and Taiwan are combined in a single paper). This paper aims to present a comparison of the results from these countries and draws conclusions about the similarities and differences noted. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was deployed in Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, The People’s Republic of China, Spain, Sweden and Taiwan. The original survey was in English, translated into German, Japanese and Chinese for relevant countries. The survey consists of a combination of Likert scale, Yes/no and free-text responses. The results are quantitatively analysed using appropriate statistical tools and the qualitative answers are interpreted (including, where appropriate, consolidated into quantitative results). Findings There are significant differences between respondents in the countries surveyed with respect to their general privacy attitudes and their willingness to follow Snowden’s lead, even where they believe his actions served the public good. Research limitations/implications Owing to resource limitations, only university students were surveyed. In some countries (Germany and New Zealand), the relatively small number of respondents limits the ability to make meaningful statistical comparisons between respondents from those countries and from elsewhere on some issues. Practical implications Snowden’s actions are generally seen as laudable and having had positive results, among the respondents surveyed. Such results should give pause to governments seeking to expand mass surveillance by government entities. Originality/value There have been few surveys regarding attitudes to Snowden’s revelations, despite the significant press attention and political actions that have flowed from it. The context of attitudes to both the actions he revealed and the act of revelation itself is useful in constructing political and philosophical arguments about the balance between surveillance activity for state security and the privacy of individual citizens.