Issues related to the ownership of personal data (including online posts, images, videos, audio)
Control of Personal Data/Identity (12)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 10 min
- The Washington Post
- 2021
The academic Philip Agre, a computer scientist by training, wrote several papers warning about the impacts of unfair AI and data barons after spending several years studying the humanities and realizing that these perspectives were missing from the field of computer science and artificial intelligence. These papers were published in the 1990s, long before the data-industrial complex and the normalization of algorithms in the everyday lives of citizens. Although he was an educated whistleblower, his predictions were ultimately ignored, the field of artificial intelligence remaining closed off from outside criticism.
- The Washington Post
- 2021
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- 10 min
- The Washington Post
- 2021
He predicted the dark side of the Internet 30 years ago. Why did no one listen?
The academic Philip Agre, a computer scientist by training, wrote several papers warning about the impacts of unfair AI and data barons after spending several years studying the humanities and realizing that these perspectives were missing from the field of computer science and artificial intelligence. These papers were published in the 1990s, long before the data-industrial complex and the normalization of algorithms in the everyday lives of citizens. Although he was an educated whistleblower, his predictions were ultimately ignored, the field of artificial intelligence remaining closed off from outside criticism.
Discussion Prompts:
Why are humanities perspectives needed in computer science and artificial intelligence fields? What would it take for data barons and/or technology users to listen to the predictions and ethical concerns of whistleblowers?
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- 3 min
- CNN
- 2021
The prominence of social data on any given person afforded by digital artifacts, such as social media posts and text messages, can be used to train a new algorithm patented by Microsoft to create a chatbot meant to imitate that specific person. This technology has not been released, however, due to its harrowing ethical implications of impersonation and dissonance. For the Black Mirror episode referenced in the article, see the narratives “Martha and Ash Parts I and II.”
- CNN
- 2021
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- 3 min
- CNN
- 2021
Microsoft patented a chatbot that would let you talk to dead people. It was too disturbing for production
The prominence of social data on any given person afforded by digital artifacts, such as social media posts and text messages, can be used to train a new algorithm patented by Microsoft to create a chatbot meant to imitate that specific person. This technology has not been released, however, due to its harrowing ethical implications of impersonation and dissonance. For the Black Mirror episode referenced in the article, see the narratives “Martha and Ash Parts I and II.”
Discussion Prompts:
How do humans control their identity when it can be replicated through machine learning? What sorts of quirks and mannerisms are unique to humans and cannot be replicated by an algorithm?
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- 10 min
- The Atlantic
- 2014
When the Apple Health app first released, it lacked one crucial component: the ability to track menstrual cycles. This exclusion of women from accessible design of technology is not the exception but rather the rule. This results from problems inherent to the gender imbalance in technology workplaces, especially at the level of design. Communities such as the Quantified Self offer spaces to help combat this exclusive culture.
- The Atlantic
- 2014
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- 10 min
- The Atlantic
- 2014
How Self-Tracking Apps Exclude Women
When the Apple Health app first released, it lacked one crucial component: the ability to track menstrual cycles. This exclusion of women from accessible design of technology is not the exception but rather the rule. This results from problems inherent to the gender imbalance in technology workplaces, especially at the level of design. Communities such as the Quantified Self offer spaces to help combat this exclusive culture.
Discussion Prompts:
In what ways are women being left behind by personal data tracking apps, and how can this be fixed? How can design strategies and institutions in technology development be inherently sexist? What will it take to ensure glaring omissions such as this one do not occur in other future products? How can apps that track and promote certain behaviors avoid being patronizing or patriarchal?
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- 10 min
- Slate
- 2021
Using the tale of Art History Professor François-Marc Gagnon, whose video lectures were used to instruct students even after his death, this article raises questions about how technologies such as digital memory and data streaming for education in the time of coronavirus may ultimately undervalue the work of educators.
- Slate
- 2021
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- 10 min
- Slate
- 2021
How a Dead Professor Is Teaching a University Art History Class
Using the tale of Art History Professor François-Marc Gagnon, whose video lectures were used to instruct students even after his death, this article raises questions about how technologies such as digital memory and data streaming for education in the time of coronavirus may ultimately undervalue the work of educators.
Discussion Prompts:
What are the largest possible detriments to automating teaching, both for students and for educators? If large amounts of data from a given course or discipline were used to train an AI to teach a course, what would such a program do well, and what aspects of education would be missed? How can educators have more personal control over the digital traces of their teaching? At what point might broader access to educational materials through digital networks actually harm certain groups of people?
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- 5 min
- Inc
Clubhouse, a new, exclusive social network app which appeared during the coronavirus pandemic, has some frightening data collection practices which are outlined in detail in this article. Essentially, while the company was not monetized at the time of this article, it collects data not only on users on the platform, but also any contacts of that user.
- Inc
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- 5 min
- Inc
Clubhouse Is Recording Your Conversations. That’s Not Even Its Worst Privacy Problem
Clubhouse, a new, exclusive social network app which appeared during the coronavirus pandemic, has some frightening data collection practices which are outlined in detail in this article. Essentially, while the company was not monetized at the time of this article, it collects data not only on users on the platform, but also any contacts of that user.
Discussion Prompts:
What are the consequences of social networks having detailed data on the personal networks of its users? What are the dangers of collecting data by putting many different social networking platforms into conversation with one another? How do draws such as exclusivity pull attention away from irresponsible data mining practices?
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- 5 min
- CNET
- 2019
Fight for the Future, a digital activist group, used Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software to scan faces on the street in Washington DC to show that there should be more guardrails on the use of this type of technology, before it is deployed for ends which violate human rights such as identifying peaceful protestors.
- CNET
- 2019
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- 5 min
- CNET
- 2019
Demonstrators scan public faces in DC to show lack of facial recognition laws
Fight for the Future, a digital activist group, used Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software to scan faces on the street in Washington DC to show that there should be more guardrails on the use of this type of technology, before it is deployed for ends which violate human rights such as identifying peaceful protestors.
Discussion Prompts:
Does this kind of stunt seem effective at getting the attention of the public on the ways that facial recognition can be misused? How? Who decides what is a “positive” use of facial recognition technology, and how can these use cases be negotiated with those citizens who want their privacy protected?