Digital Surveillance and Profiling: Emre Tansu Keten Evaluates the Importance of the Right to Anonymity

Profiling as a Tool of Power and Control Academic Emre Tansu Keten defines profiling not merely as a technical data collection practice, but as a tool used by those in power to classify and monitor society.
Emphasizing that profiling is a political instrument, Keten notes that this method is used to control immediate threats, prevent potential risks, or create an "enemy image" as part of right-wing populist politics.
Keten states that digital opportunities provide a significant advantage for states seeking to gather information about society.
He explains this process, which becomes more pronounced in authoritarian regimes, through the concept of the "techno-solutionist mind." Arguing that treating social problems as technical calculation errors creates a need for comprehensive data collection, Keten points out that creating a calculable digital copy of every individual has become a functional tool for both corporations and political powers.
Anonymity as a Right and Form of Resistance Stating that remaining anonymous on the internet is an inseparable part of the right to freedom of expression and privacy, Keten criticizes the fact that debates regarding anonymous accounts are often confined to a moral and legal framework.
In an environment where global surveillance threatens to leave individuals with nowhere to hide, anonymity emerges as a form of resistance.
Emphasizing that privacy must be treated as a political issue, Keten expresses the need for a collective struggle for the right to digital self-determination.
According to Keten, the demand for algorithmic transparency should be defended as a social right, and individual control over data must be re-established in the digitalizing world.