20 years of videosurveillance of public spaces in Portugal

overview and sociopolitical challenges

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34629/cpublica.855

Keywords:

videosurveillance, public security, public spaces, Portugal

Abstract

This article examines the operation and uses of video surveillance in public spaces in Portugal, considering its progressive expansion, as well as the fact that, in 2025, the first national legislation on the subject will be 20 years old. Based on a literature review, analysis of documentation and interviews with members of public bodies, the conclusion is that, while, on the one hand, video surveillance has been affirmed as a strategic mechanism in public security policy in Portugal, on the other hand, this emphasis is not accompanied by statistical data that allows us to assess its effectiveness in reducing crime. Finally, in the expansion of video surveillance systems in the country, there is a need for a broader concern with guaranteeing the protection of citizens’ privacy and personal data, especially of racialized groups.

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Author Biographies

  • Paulo Victor Melo, ICNOVA

    Researcher at ICNOVA – Institute of Communications, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, conducting postdoctoral research on techno-surveillance in public spaces. Ph.D. in Communication and Culture from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Brazil. He has teaching experience at Brazilian and Portuguese universities. Principal Investigator of the project “Vigi_BairroAlto - Public Space Hypervigilance: The Case of Bairro Alto”. Member of the Center for Communication, Democracy and Citizenship at UFBA. In 2019, he received the Senator Abdias Nascimento Commendation, awarded by the Sergipe Legislative Assembly (Brasil), for his academic labor in defense of racial equality.

  • Ana Viseu, ICNOVA

    Assistant Professor in the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, and Researcher at ICNOVA – Institute of Communications, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Specializing in studies of technoscientific innovation, her research agenda examines the material and discursive practices of governance, development and use of emergent (and contested) technologies. Having received her Ph.D.  from the University of Toronto in 2005, she went on to do a Post-Doc at Cornell University, USA. In 2019, she was honored as one of Portugal’s 100 Female Scientists. Her work has been published in several venues, most notably, Nature and Social Studies of Science. 

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Published

2024-12-13

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 37 (2024): Number with Special Issue

Section

SPECIAL ISSUE: Digital culture: mediatization, surveillance and public space

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How to Cite

20 years of videosurveillance of public spaces in Portugal: overview and sociopolitical challenges. (2024). Comunicação Pública, 19(37). https://doi.org/10.34629/cpublica.855