Big Data's Threat to Liberty

Big Data's Threat to Liberty PDF Author: Henrik Skaug Saetra
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128238070
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Book Description
Big Data permeates all aspects of modern life, and while there is no shortage of potential benefits resulting from this, author Henrik Skaug Sætra argues that we must also understand the threats Big Data poses to liberty. The issues discussed in Big Data’s Threat to Liberty: Surveillance, Nudging, and the Curation of Information are related to how we are constantly under surveillance. Data is gathered from our homes, our cars, our smartphones, various devices around the house, and public sources such as facial recognition enabled camera surveillance and various websites and social networks. Furthermore, the information gathered is used to influence our actions. Detailed personality profiles are utilized in order to make us purchase products and services, or pay our taxes, through tailor-made nudges aimed at irrational and subconscious mechanisms, and delivered with a level of precision only possible with Big Data-driven algorithmic curation of data. Finally, the information we receive through various media is curated by algorithms, and even people are curated in order to satisfy our desires. By providing us with what the algorithm believes we want, we are spared from the exposure of unpleasant information, and even unpleasant people. The ideological landscapes we traverse are thus characterized by conformity, and a concomitant tyranny of popular opinion becomes ever more coercive as this occurs. The question is: How does being constantly watched, manipulated, and having our world-views shaped as just described affect our freedom? In this book it is argued that Big Data’s threat to individual liberty is routinely misunderstood and underappreciated due to (a) vagueness resulting from the concept of liberty being used without it being defined, or (b) the use of definitions based on flawed understandings of what liberty is. In this new and unique contribution to the ethics of Big Data and artificial intelligence, both these challenges are thoroughly addressed. Explanation of key Big Data–related technologies and how they affect modern society, including explanation of surveillance technologies and nudging algorithms, and how Big Data, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence algorithms are used to tailor and mold opinion Conceptualization of the term liberty, making the concept tangible, as a clear understanding of various forms of liberty enables a proper debate about the effects of technology on liberty, and a debate about what sort of liberty we value A thorough technical explanation of how Big Data influences individuals by way of surveillance that allows for detailed personality profiles, nudging, and the algorithmic curation of information

The Rise of Big Data Policing

The Rise of Big Data Policing PDF Author: Andrew Guthrie Ferguson
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 147986997X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Book Description
Winner, 2018 Law & Legal Studies PROSE Award The consequences of big data and algorithm-driven policing and its impact on law enforcement In a high-tech command center in downtown Los Angeles, a digital map lights up with 911 calls, television monitors track breaking news stories, surveillance cameras sweep the streets, and rows of networked computers link analysts and police officers to a wealth of law enforcement intelligence. This is just a glimpse into a future where software predicts future crimes, algorithms generate virtual “most-wanted” lists, and databanks collect personal and biometric information. The Rise of Big Data Policing introduces the cutting-edge technology that is changing how the police do their jobs and shows why it is more important than ever that citizens understand the far-reaching consequences of big data surveillance as a law enforcement tool. Andrew Guthrie Ferguson reveals how these new technologies —viewed as race-neutral and objective—have been eagerly adopted by police departments hoping to distance themselves from claims of racial bias and unconstitutional practices. After a series of high-profile police shootings and federal investigations into systemic police misconduct, and in an era of law enforcement budget cutbacks, data-driven policing has been billed as a way to “turn the page” on racial bias. But behind the data are real people, and difficult questions remain about racial discrimination and the potential to distort constitutional protections. In this first book on big data policing, Ferguson offers an examination of how new technologies will alter the who, where, when and how we police. These new technologies also offer data-driven methods to improve police accountability and to remedy the underlying socio-economic risk factors that encourage crime. The Rise of Big Data Policing is a must read for anyone concerned with how technology will revolutionize law enforcement and its potential threat to the security, privacy, and constitutional rights of citizens. Read an excerpt and interview with Andrew Guthrie Ferguson in The Economist.

AI for the Sustainable Development Goals

AI for the Sustainable Development Goals PDF Author: Henrik Skaug Sætra
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000542815
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 121

Book Description
What is artificial intelligence? What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How does AI affect the SDGs? Artificial Intelligence has a real impact on our lives and on our environment, and the Sustainable Development Goals enable us to evaluate these impacts in a systematic manner. This book shows that doing so requires us to understand the context of AI – the infrastructure it is built on, who develops it, who owns it, who has access to it, who uses it, and what it is used for – rather than relying on an isolationist theory of technology. By doing so, we can analyze not only the direct effects of AI on sustainability, but also the indirect – or second-order – effects. AI for the Sustainable Development Goals shows how AI potentially affects all SDGs – both positively and negatively.

Fintech

Fintech PDF Author: Moosa, Imad A.
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1802206345
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Book Description
This incisive book presents a critical evaluation of fintech, the use of technology to provide financial services. While fintech has been hailed as a game changer and a disruptor, Imad Moosa illustrates critical similarities between the present popularity of fintech and the dot-com hype of the early 2000s.

The NSA Report

The NSA Report PDF Author: President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, The
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400851270
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Book Description
The official report that has shaped the international debate about NSA surveillance "We cannot discount the risk, in light of the lessons of our own history, that at some point in the future, high-level government officials will decide that this massive database of extraordinarily sensitive private information is there for the plucking. Americans must never make the mistake of wholly 'trusting' our public officials."—The NSA Report This is the official report that is helping shape the international debate about the unprecedented surveillance activities of the National Security Agency. Commissioned by President Obama following disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden, and written by a preeminent group of intelligence and legal experts, the report examines the extent of NSA programs and calls for dozens of urgent and practical reforms. The result is a blueprint showing how the government can reaffirm its commitment to privacy and civil liberties—without compromising national security.

Technology and Sustainable Development

Technology and Sustainable Development PDF Author: Henrik Skaug Sætra
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000886107
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Book Description
Technological change is at the core of all major disruptions in human history, and revolutions, wars, and general development are regularly connected to some sort of technological change. However, not all development is beneficial. While technology has fueled great innovations and rapid development, the notion of sustainable development has gained prominence as we now experience serious social, economic, and environmental challenges. This book examines whether technology can be used to fix the very problems caused by technology, as the various chapters examine different aspects related to how technology has brought us where we are today (which some will say is the best place humanity’s been at according to a range of metrics), and whether technology helps or hinders us in our efforts to solve the challenges we currently face. The issues discussed cover the three sustainability dimensions and include topics such as the materiality of AI, technology in education, AI for gender equality, innovation and the digital divide, and how technology relates to power, the political system, and capitalism. The chapters all build on the theoretical backdrop of technological change, sustainable development, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are actively used throughout this book, both to examine how these goals capture or overlook central elements of sustainable development, and also to facilitate and create a common framework of engagement between the chapters. This book provides a novel combination of traditional theories that are explored through different case studies, providing the ground for a better understanding of how and when technology can –and cannot –be the enabler of sustainable development. It is thus an important resource for students of all disciplines, technologists, and those developing and applying new technologies. It is also a valuable resource for politicians and regulators attempting to harness the power of technology for good, while limiting its negative potential. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Funded by Ostfold University College.

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism PDF Author: Shoshana Zuboff
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610395700
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 658

Book Description
The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior. In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in the twenty-first century just as industrial capitalism disfigured the natural world in the twentieth. Zuboff vividly brings to life the consequences as surveillance capitalism advances from Silicon Valley into every economic sector. Vast wealth and power are accumulated in ominous new "behavioral futures markets," where predictions about our behavior are bought and sold, and the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification." The threat has shifted from a totalitarian Big Brother state to a ubiquitous digital architecture: a "Big Other" operating in the interests of surveillance capital. Here is the crucible of an unprecedented form of power marked by extreme concentrations of knowledge and free from democratic oversight. Zuboff's comprehensive and moving analysis lays bare the threats to twenty-first century society: a controlled "hive" of total connection that seduces with promises of total certainty for maximum profit -- at the expense of democracy, freedom, and our human future. With little resistance from law or society, surveillance capitalism is on the verge of dominating the social order and shaping the digital future -- if we let it.

Social Robots in Social Institutions

Social Robots in Social Institutions PDF Author: R. Hakli
Publisher: IOS Press
ISBN: 1643683756
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 800

Book Description
Social institutions emerge from social practices which coordinate activities by the explicit statement of rules, goals, and values. When artificial social actors are introduced into the physical and symbolic space of institutions, will this affect or transform institutional structures and practices, and how can social robotics as an interdisciplinary endeavor contribute to the ability of our institutions to perform their functions in society? This book presents the proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022, the 5th in the biennial Robophilosophy conference series, held in Helsinki, Finland, from 16 to 19 August 2022. The theme of this edition of the conference was Social Robots in Social Institutions, and it featured international multidisciplinary research from the humanities and social sciences concerning social robotics. The 63 papers, 41 workshop papers and 5 posters included in this book are divided into 4 sections: plenaries, sessions, workshops and posters, with the 41 papers in the ‘Sessions’ section grouped into 13 subdivisions including elderly care, healthcare, law, education and art, as well as ethics and religion. These papers explore the anticipated conceptual and practical changes which will come about from the introduction of social robotics into public and private institutions, such as public services, legal systems, social and healthcare services or educational institutions. Offering an exploration of the societal significance of social robots for the future of social institutions, the book will be of interest to both researchers in robotics and to those working in social institutions and enterprises.

Exploring the Boundaries of Big Data

Exploring the Boundaries of Big Data PDF Author: Bart van der Sloot
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789462983588
Category : Big data
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
In the investigation Exploring the Boundaries of Big Data The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) offers building blocks for developing a regulatory approach to Big Data.

Liberty and Security

Liberty and Security PDF Author: Conor Gearty
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745669980
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Book Description
All aspire to liberty and security in their lives but few people truly enjoy them. This book explains why this is so. In what Conor Gearty calls our 'neo-democratic' world, the proclamation of universal liberty and security is mocked by facts on the ground: the vast inequalities in supposedly free societies, the authoritarian regimes with regular elections, and the terrible socio-economic deprivation camouflaged by cynically proclaimed commitments to human rights. Gearty's book offers an explanation of how this has come about, providing also a criticism of the present age which tolerates it. He then goes on to set out a manifesto for a better future, a place where liberty and security can be rich platforms for everyone's life. The book identifies neo-democracies as those places which play at democracy so as to disguise the injustice at their core. But it is not just the new 'democracies' that have turned 'neo', the so-called established democracies are also hurtling in the same direction, as is the United Nations. A new vision of universal freedom is urgently required. Drawing on scholarship in law, human rights and political science this book argues for just such a vision, one in which the great achievements of our democratic past are not jettisoned as easily as were the socialist ideals of the original democracy-makers.