Rethinking Surveillance and Counter-Surveillance in the Era of Big Data: The Case Of Cypherpunks

Date

2025-9-19

Author

Al-Madhoun, Ahmed M. R.

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This thesis rethinks the relationship between surveillance and technologist counter surveillance in the era of Big Data and advanced Algorithms. It does so by studying the case of the Cypherpunks, as a movement that uses technology as the primary strategy to counter surveillance. The analysis is done through the lens of psychopolitics in the information regime as articulated by Byung-Chul Han. It demonstrates that counter-surveillance is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The thesis argues that technologist counter-surveillance is of a dual character,both disruptive of and reinforcing of power relations in the era of Big Data and advanced algorithms. Moreover, the efficacy of technologist counter-surveillance is limited to the extent it is intimate with the information regime.

Subject Keywords

Surveillance, Counter-Surveillance, Big Data, Cypherpunks

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115666

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis