Using Big Data to Prevent Crime: Legitimacy Matters

This study uses a citizens’ awareness survey to gauge the impact of crime prevention initiatives based on big data. Crime prevention activities using large datasets inevitably involve reasonable concerns over: (a) the excessive concentration of information power to law enforcement agencies and (b) possible privacy violations by the state. This study explores the trends in this area through the application of the police legitimacy theory. It aims to gather insights into the use of big data to strengthen preventive responses to crimes by law enforcement agencies while also considering the citizens initiatives based on big data abuses. The survey conducted by the Korean Institute of Criminology in August 2015 was used for analysis through structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that, among important factors in police legitimacy theory, three primary items drew support for crime prevention activities based on big data: “distributive fairness,” “lawfulness,” and “effectiveness.” These overshadowed the “procedural fairness” variable, which has been emphasized in previous police legitimacy studies. This suggests that the law enforcement agencies should focus on the promulgation of the following: (1) big data as an aid to guaranteeing citizens’ rights in civil society, rather than the unilateral strengthening of national power, and (2) the effective and lawful use of big data as a method of stabilizing citizens’ personal security.