Data Mining (28)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 3 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
This short article details a pledge inspired by the practices of the French government for tech monopolies to be more responsible in the areas of taxes and privacy. As of 2020, many have signed onto this initiative.
- TechCrunch
- 2020
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- 3 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
Dozens of tech companies sign ‘Tech for Good Call’ following French initiative
This short article details a pledge inspired by the practices of the French government for tech monopolies to be more responsible in the areas of taxes and privacy. As of 2020, many have signed onto this initiative.
What does accountability for tech monopolies look like? Who should offer robust challenges to these companies, and who actually has the power to do so?
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- 5 min
- Gizmodo
- 2020
The data privacy of employees is at risk under a new “Productivity Score” program started by Microsoft, in which employers and administrators can use Microsoft 365 platforms to collect several metrics on their workers in order to “optimize productivity.” However, this approach causes unnecessary stress for workers, beginning a surveillance program in the workplace.
- Gizmodo
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Gizmodo
- 2020
Microsoft’s Creepy New ‘Productivity Score’ Gamifies Workplace Surveillance
The data privacy of employees is at risk under a new “Productivity Score” program started by Microsoft, in which employers and administrators can use Microsoft 365 platforms to collect several metrics on their workers in order to “optimize productivity.” However, this approach causes unnecessary stress for workers, beginning a surveillance program in the workplace.
How are excuses such as using data to “optimize productivity” employed to gather more data on people? How could such a goal be accomplished without the surveillance aspect? How does this approach not account for a diversity of working methods?
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- 35 min
- Wired
- 2021
In this podcast, interviewees share several narratives which discuss how certain technologies, especially digital photo albums, social media sites, and dating apps, can change the nature of relationships and memories. Once algorithms for certain sites have an idea of what a certain user may want to see, it can be hard for the user to change that idea, as the Pinterest wedding example demonstrates. When it comes to photos, emotional reactions can be hard or nearly impossible for a machine to predict. While dating apps do not necessarily make a profit by mining data, the Match monopoly of creating different types of dating niches through a variety of apps is cause for some concern.
- Wired
- 2021
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- 35 min
- Wired
- 2021
How Tech Transformed How We Hook Up—and Break Up
In this podcast, interviewees share several narratives which discuss how certain technologies, especially digital photo albums, social media sites, and dating apps, can change the nature of relationships and memories. Once algorithms for certain sites have an idea of what a certain user may want to see, it can be hard for the user to change that idea, as the Pinterest wedding example demonstrates. When it comes to photos, emotional reactions can be hard or nearly impossible for a machine to predict. While dating apps do not necessarily make a profit by mining data, the Match monopoly of creating different types of dating niches through a variety of apps is cause for some concern.
How should algorithms determine what photos a specific user may want to see or be reminded of? Should machines be trusted with this task at all? Should users be able to take a more active role in curating their content in certain albums or sites, and would most users even want to do this? Does the existence of dating apps drastically change the nature of dating? How could creating a new application which introduces a new dating “niche” ultimately serve a tech monopoly?
Gadget Lab: Breaking Up, Hooking Up-
- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
During Google’s attempt to merge with the company Fitbit, the NGO Amnesty International has provided warnings to the competition regulators in the EU that such a move would be detrimental to privacy. Based on Google’s historical malpractice with user data, since its status as a tech monopoly allows it to mine data from several different avenues of a user’s life, adding wearable health-based tech to this equation puts the privacy and rights of users at risk. Calls for scrunity of “surveillance capitalism” employed by tech giants.
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
No Google-Fitbit merger without human rights remedies, says Amnesty to EU
During Google’s attempt to merge with the company Fitbit, the NGO Amnesty International has provided warnings to the competition regulators in the EU that such a move would be detrimental to privacy. Based on Google’s historical malpractice with user data, since its status as a tech monopoly allows it to mine data from several different avenues of a user’s life, adding wearable health-based tech to this equation puts the privacy and rights of users at risk. Calls for scrunity of “surveillance capitalism” employed by tech giants.
When considering how companies and advertisers may use them, what sorts of personal statistics related to health and well-being should and should not be collected by mobile computing devices? How can devices originally built to stand on their own as one technological artifact become more convenient or harmful to a user when they become part of a technological architecture?
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2009
In a distant future after the “Water War” in which much of the natural environment was destroyed and water has become scarce, Asha works as a curator at a museum which displays the former splendor of nature on Earth. She receives a mysterious soil sample which, after digital analysis using a object recognition to take data from the soil, surprisingly contains water.
- Kinolab
- 2009
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2009
Digital Environment Analysis
In a distant future after the “Water War” in which much of the natural environment was destroyed and water has become scarce, Asha works as a curator at a museum which displays the former splendor of nature on Earth. She receives a mysterious soil sample which, after digital analysis using a object recognition to take data from the soil, surprisingly contains water.
How can technology be used to gather data on certain environments and aspects of an ecosystem to help them reach their full potential? How should this technology be made accessible to communities all across the world?
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2008
Under threat of eviction, Luz must find a quick way to make some money to pay rent. Thankfully, through the company TruNode, she can digitize her memories and sell them on the internet for anyone who may wish to access and stream them. While this seems convenient, the downsides are shown when the repository of her memories are used to help ruthless drone pilot Rudy Ramirez hunt down an innocent laborer who is a supposedly dangerous criminal. After Luz reveals this means of making money to Memo, the aforementioned innocent laborer, he is less than enthused with the system.
- Kinolab
- 2008
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2008
Selling Digitized Memories
Under threat of eviction, Luz must find a quick way to make some money to pay rent. Thankfully, through the company TruNode, she can digitize her memories and sell them on the internet for anyone who may wish to access and stream them. While this seems convenient, the downsides are shown when the repository of her memories are used to help ruthless drone pilot Rudy Ramirez hunt down an innocent laborer who is a supposedly dangerous criminal. After Luz reveals this means of making money to Memo, the aforementioned innocent laborer, he is less than enthused with the system.
How can the high cost of very personal data and digital memories be both empowering in the right circumstances and disempowering in the wrong ones? What if people were able to sell all of their personal data, as is shown here? Is the complete digitization of memory a positive concept or a negative one? How can data or memory be purchased for nefarious purposes? How can people be unintentionally harmed by this system? Can the emotions of memories ever be paired well with a digital interface?