Research Interests
Rocco Bellanova's research focuses on questions of privacy and data protection as applied to security and surveillance practices and technologies.
Rocco has recently completed a PhD in Brussels, at the Centre de Recherche en Science Politique (CReSPo) of the Université Saint-Louis and at the Law, Science, Technology and Society (LSTS) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His doctorate analyzes the powers and politics of data protection, in particular in relation to the deployment of security technologies based on passenger data. His focus is mostly on the so-called Area of Freedom, Security and Justice of the European Union, and on its external dimension in relation to the United States. He has published on topics such as the body scanners, the EUROSUR project, the connection of DNA databases, the data retention directive.
At PRIO, Rocco is currently working on three EU FP7 funded projects: IRISS (on surveillance and resilience in democratic societies); ETTIS (on European security trends and threats); PACT (on public perception of privacy and security).
He is also member of the Scientific Committee of the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection - CPDP international conferences, and he has been part of its Programming Committee for five years.
Background
Languages:
English, French, Spanish and Italian
Education:
2010-2014: PhD on the Politics of Data Protection, at the Université Saint-Louis and at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
2006: Research Master in Political Science of International Relations - Sciences Po Paris, France
2005: Laurea Specialistica in International Relations - Università di Bologna, Italy
2004 (one semester): Overseas exchange program at the Université de Montréal, Canada
2002-2003: Erasmus at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Lyon, France
Blog Posts
We all have a “data double”. But how well do you really know this other aspect of your identity? Unless you know what your entirely digital identity looks like, you should take responsibility for finding out and, at the same time, contribute to a digital drive to ensure that we ... Read more »
Images of refugees using smartphones have now become common in the Western media landscape, and everybody seems to have learned that refugees and migrants, too, use smartphones. Indicative of this awareness, European governments are now looking into how to make use of these assets in their identity checks and in ... Read more »
Posted by Rocco Bellanova on Thursday, 10 March 2016
The fourth season of the Netflix series House of Cards was released worldwide on the 4th March. Which is to say, the week-end when many International Relations (IR) researchers are still rushing to finalize their conference paper for the annual convention of the International Studies Association (ISA). And, if you ... Read more »
Posted by Rocco Bellanova on Thursday, 14 January 2016
Several governments see in the mass-surveillance of passenger data the key tool of counter-terrorism. These data are generally known as PNR – Passenger Name Records, and their potential for law enforcement has been discussed at least since the 1990s. Now European Union (EU) debates about the creation of a European ... Read more »
Posted by Rocco Bellanova & Gloria González Fuster on Tuesday, 13 May 2014
Following last year’s revelations, Edward Snowden seems to be trapped in a role ironically reminiscent of another famous character – George Orwell’s Big Brother. You are being watched. This classical surveillance slogan hides a subtler, and more insidious message: you must believe you are always being watched, and you probably ... Read more »