ABSTRACT
Advocates of transparency seem to insist that so long as the regimes that surveil us are open about how they are surveilling us, the “wrong” of mass state surveillance is resolved. Once the rules are clear and effectively enforced, the breach of trust, evident following the Snowden revelations, is mended. However, viewing the wrong of mass state surveillance instead through the harm it causes to our freedom as nondomination reveals something else entirely. From this perspective, it becomes clear that rendering state surveillance power more transparent to citizens simply serves to publicize practices of surveillance, making certain groups and individuals who are exposed to surveillance more acutely aware of the power held over them, ironically amplifying surveillance’s chilling effects. Consequently, opportunities to contest the harms produced by surveillance, not merely information about the rules that govern surveillance, are required.
