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Regulation of Data Driven Technologies Research

How can regulation protect us from intrusion and fakery?

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought issues around data privacy and processing into sharp focus, particularly upon regulation of data driven technologies research.

Debate has raged globally. What kinds of personal data collection are valid to protect public health? What is the cost to personal privacy?

Questions of power have also emerged. Have governments and states ceded governance power to private platforms such as Google and Apple?

Regulation of data

Post Snowden. Post Cambridge Analytica

There are other controversies surrounding data, privacy, and regulation.

We live in the shadow of the loss of trust in states after the Snowden revelations about covert mass surveillance. In the private sector, the Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed targeted political influencing of voters via social networks worldwide.

Questions our research explores

We explore a broad range of topics in this theme of regulation of data driven technologies research.

  • What responsibility should platforms like Facebook and Twitter have for harmful content? How do we tackle issues such as fake news, trolling, race hate and gendered abuse?
  • In our homes, are we prepared for the silent surveillance of our smart devices? Smart speakers, smart TVs, and smart fridges — all are becoming a greater part of many modern lives. Are both law and technology adequate to protect society and individuals against these new types of surveillance?
  • Do we need new laws about algorithmic profiling? Automated hiring systems? Face recognition? Workplace surveillance? Is it best to deal with these issues via technology, law, or ethics?

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