The Effectiveness of Digital Mass Surveillance in Counterterrorism: An Assessment of the Evidence
According to proponents of the so-called Sleepwet (Dragnet Law), digital mass surveillance is necessary to prevent terrorist attacks. Indeed, the AIVD claims that countries that engage in digital mass surveillance “achieve demonstrably better results in the early identification of planned attacks“. But is that true? What does the evidence tell us about the role of digital mass surveillance in the foiling of terrorist plots?
During Bitcoin Wednesday on 7 February 2018, terrorism expert Teun van Dongen will explain how terrorist attacks are planned and foiled. He will address the question of whether expanding the powers of the secret services is the way to go if we want to keep The Netherlands safe from terrorist attacks.
About Teun van Dongen
Teun van Dongen is an independent terrorism expert. He worked as a policy analyst at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), a think tank in The Netherlands. He has served as a lecturer in Comprehensive Security at the Inholland University of Applied Sciences, and currently works as a lecturer at Leiden University. During his period at HCSS, he was seconded to the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counter Terrorism.
Teun regularly writes about terrorism for academic journals, newspapers and international affairs magazines. He holds a PhD from Leiden University, which he earned with a doctoral dissertation on counterterrorism strategies and their effectiveness. In 2017 he published a book about terrorists’ motivations.
