Police Narratives on Ethical Issues of Big Data: A Sociotechnical Approach

Abstract

Despite increasing integration of Big Data into law enforcement globally, few studies have examined how police officers construct ethical narratives around it. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS), this article adopts a sociotechnical perspective to analyze how police officers in Portugal engage with ethical discourse on Big Data in policing and criminal investigations. Based on thirty-four interviews with members of the Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária) and the Public Security Police (Polícia de Segurança Pública), the article reveals how ethical considerations are strategically mobilized to legitimize Big Data adoption while minimizing external scrutiny. Though officers acknowledge risks, such as privacy violations and threats to human rights, these concerns are framed in ways that shift responsibility to lawmakers and information technology professionals. Furthermore, public engagement is not positioned as a tool for democratic deliberation but as a performative mechanism to secure societal acceptance of Big Data policing. These narratives exemplify a broader phenomenon of “ethics washing” where ethical discourse functions as a strategic tool to reinforce institutional legitimacy and facilitate technological adoption. By conceptually extending the notions of ethics washing and performativity to the field of policing, based on an empirical example, this article contributes to STS research on technology ethics and Big Data.