The fragility of trust in digital workplace surveillance: Interpersonal and governance perspectives

Kayas, OG ORCID: 0000-0003-4541-8171 The fragility of trust in digital workplace surveillance: Interpersonal and governance perspectives. Surveillance & Society. ISSN 1477-7487 (Accepted)

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Abstract

Public sector organisations are increasingly using surveillance practices augmented with digital technologies, often justified through reform agendas centred around transparency, accountability, and performance improvement, yet the impact of surveillance on trust remains poorly understood. This paper examines how surveillance shapes trust within a local government authority through a qualitative case study drawing on interviews, observations, and documentation. The findings show that surveillance can reinforce trust when it supports fairness, protects employees, and improves decision making, but can erode trust when it is perceived as disproportionate, opaque, or selectively applied. The analysis also highlights how tensions between interpersonal experiences and governance narratives render trust a fragile and contested organisational condition. By moving beyond binary framings of trust versus control, this paper develops a multilevel account of how trust is shaped, negotiated, and destabilised in digitally surveilled public sector workplaces.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1602 Criminology; 1608 Sociology; 1801 Law; 4402 Criminology; 4410 Sociology; 4701 Communication and media studies
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business K Law > K Law (General) T Technology > T Technology (General) > T58.5 Information Technology
Divisions:	Liverpool Business School
Publisher:	Surveillance Studies Network
Date of acceptance:	27 April 2026
Date Deposited:	08 May 2026 13:13
Last Modified:	08 May 2026 13:13
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28532

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