The Media Change & Innovation Division received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for a new project entitled The Chilling Effects of Dataveillance: Conceptual Advances and Empirical Evidence for Switzerland.

Over the course of 3.5 years, this project will study the inhibitory effects of people's sense of being surveilled on their digital communication behaviors. The project is interdisciplinary and will combine theory development with qualitative, quantitative, and computational methods. The research team will address inter alia the following questions:

• Does an increase in dataveillance increase inhibited digital communication, i.e., lead to chilling effects?
• How do internet users experience chilling effects? What kinds of communication and which groups are most affected?
• What are viable governance options for dataveillance practices?

Altogether, the project will provide critical building blocks for a broad rethinking of what the datafication and digitalization of everyday life mean for privacy, autonomy, democracy, and human well-being. More information on the project page.