Google's expansion into security Platforms, infrastructure, (in)visibility

Over the last decade, Big Tech have been extending their socio-political impact by increasingly getting involved in matters of security. As such, Big Tech like Google gain power over what needs to be secured or protected, from whom and how. Concerned with this development, this PhD thesis asks how Google builds on its digital dominance to expand and navigate its position in the security domain. It answers this question from an interdisciplinary perspective that combines critical security studies with platform studies. This approach enables a deep exploration of Google’s security-focused platforms, infrastructure, internet standardization efforts, and expertise in artificial intelligence. The PhD thesis argues that Google builds on its digital dominance to expand and navigate its position in the security domain through its platformization of security, expanding infrastructurally, and by deploying (in)visibility politics. As such, Google’s involvement in security is no longer ambivalent. Google is pro-actively taking steps to shape understandings of security to fit its commercial objectives. Google may align itself with government interests when there is potential for long-term commercial benefit. But Google does not hesitate to treat governments just like any other user of its platform who needs to agree with the terms and conditions if that platform has reached an infrastructural scale and scope. While Google is subject to government regulation in for example the United States and the European Union, Google’s relationship with governments is therefore highly dependent on context.