Snowden's revelations and the attitudes of students at Swedish universities

Purpose – Mapping of Swedish students' attitudes toward Snowden's revelations and their effects in the political and socio-cultural environment of Sweden. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was answered by 190 Swedish University students. The quantitative responses to the survey were statistically analysed as well as qualitative considerations of free text answers. Findings – Swedish students had a high level of knowledge of Snowden revelations, they actively searched for information, they gave a positive judgement of Snowden's actions and they were willing to follow his example in Sweden but not the US. They trusted their country and most of its institutions and authorities except for secret service agencies and Internet and computer software companies. Practical implications – Design of education for university students, especially in Information Technology programs. Social implications – Developing and applying policies on privacy, surveillance and whistleblowing. Originality/value – This study is part of a bigger international study to map students' attitudes toward Snowden's revelations and their opinions about privacy, surveillance and whistleblowing opening up for cross-cultural analyses. This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down.