Security/Trust Nexus in the “Technological” Province of Law

Abstract

The relationship of trust holds a significant place in shaping, operating, and fulfilling the functions of the legal system. However, the connection between trust and law is characterised by a paradoxical relationality. This article examines the position of law despite technological regulations through the lens of the concept of trust. The central issue explored in this evaluation is the trust/security nexus. In a society that is increasingly complex and includes new technological mediators as well as post-human elements, many types of relationships—from interpersonal trust to trust in systems—encounter various dilemmas. To identify these dilemmas, the study begins by assessing the impact of technological mediators on human beings and establishes that the human-technology entanglement possesses a normative dimension. Then, by situating the modern form of trust within this context, the article unveils the foundations of the trust/security nexus. Within the scope of this study, the legal system is considered to be the most tension-producing system among social systems when confronted with the regulatory potential of technological mediators. As a result, the concepts of transparency and surveillance—natural components of this tension—are brought into critical discussion. After examining the normative relationship between technological regulation and law and outlining the conceptual panorama along with relevant phenomena, the article focuses on the high-security prison as a “laboratory” of a complex society. Analysing the high-security prison in terms of the trust/security unity also offers a concrete example of the relationship between law and technological mediators. The study ultimately concludes that even in such a heavily surveilled security topos, the mechanism of trust still operates—because it constitutes one of the foundational dynamics of social life. © 2026 Istanbul University Press. All rights reserved.