Cynthia Yee Ting Ng

Research Interests: end-to-end encryption, privacy, digital trust, crypto wars, cyber security controversy, controversy analysis, science and technology studies, critical cyber security studies, interdisciplinary studies

Supervisors: Dr. Matt SpencerLink opens in a new window and Prof. Noortje MarresLink opens in a new window

Thesis Title: Encryption as Controversy: Problem-Solution Reformulations in UK End-to-End Encryption Disputes, 2018-2024

Thesis Abstract:

This thesis explores the role of highly publicised controversies in secure communications by examining encryption disputes. For decades, actors from cryptography, intelligence and civil rights have contested the socio-technical and policy development of encrypted communications. These contestations have been framed by journalists and critics of governments’ interventions as a zero-sum “war” between the so-called technology community and intelligence community. Adopting the approach of controversy analysis (Callon et al., 2009; Latour, 2004, 2005a, 2005b; Marres, 2005, 2007) in science and technology studies (STS), this thesis moves beyond the “war” framing to provide a socio-technical account of the dynamic contestations around issues such as privacy, digital security and public safety. It makes two contributions at the intersection of security studies and STS: methodologically, it offers a framework to study encryption as controversy, valuing contestations as a driving force of democracy (Mouffe, 1999) while attending to nuanced relationships among socio-material actants; theoretically, it bridges a gap in securitisation theory (Aradau, 2010; Buzan et al., 1998; Huysmans, 2006, 2011; Wæver, 1995) in understanding the involvement of stakeholders and wider publics in security-related contestations that are of high publicity. Focusing on UK end-to-end encryption disputes, 2018-2024, this thesis captures a pivotal shift toward child safety in encryption controversies. It employs object-oriented controversy mapping to understand contested developments in secure communications linked to society, security and technology. The analysis reveals shifting problem-solution couplings (Garfinkel, 1967; Neyland & Milyaeva, 2016) across encryption controversies. Rather than mere recurrence, each controversy enables reformulations of problems and solutions that are typically technological-innovation-based. By examining controversies centred on three objects—exceptional access, client-side scanning, and “accredited technology” in the Online Safety Act 2023—this thesis argues that encryption controversies occasion negotiations over public interests in configuring societal and security challenges, across expert and public domains, within and outside democratic institutions.

Background:

I have an interdisciplinary academic background in social science, computer science and technology management. I hold a Master of Arts in Science and Technology Studies from the Technical University of Munich. During my postgraduate studies in Germany, I was a research assistant at the Digital Media Lab, Munich Centre for Technology in Society. Prior to that, I studied technology management and obtained my dual degree in computer science and business management, with a minor in social science, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

In addition to my academic background, I have worked as a cyber security professional with substantial credentials in the industry:
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP by (ISC)2)
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA by ISACA)
Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE by ISACA)

Grants:

Chancellor’s International Scholarship by the University of Warwick Doctoral College for 3.5 years of full-time study.

Publications:

Ng, C. (2024). Digital Security Controversy Analysis: A Case Study of the Debate over GCHQ Exceptional Access Proposal. In: Bieker, F., de Conca, S., Gruschka, N., Jensen, M., Schiering, I. (eds) Privacy and Identity Management. Sharing in a Digital World. Privacy and Identity 2023. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 695. Springer, Cham.

Contact

Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL

Email: Cynthia.Ng@warwick.ac.uk