Data, Society
and the
Politics of Digital Information
Framework
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low-cost data collection methods
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low-cost data storage technologies
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low-cost analytics
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low demand of human resources
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automatization, algorhythms, AI
Data states
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lists, tables of the state's wealth, goods and possessions - 3000BC
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first demographic data collection - Florence, 14th Century
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first demographic data analysis - William Petty (1623–1687) and John Graunt (1620–1674)
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First modern census: 1719, I. Frederick William (Soldatenkönig), Prussia=garrison state
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1749 - Gottfried Achenwall: statistik, from the italian word: statista
1819 - L'homme moyen by Quetelet
1850's - Control revolution - high level of bureaucratization
Data states
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basic demographic data
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ethnic, religious data (German ini.)
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education (French)
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health (American, English)
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poverty (English)
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"moral" or criminal statistics (French)
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elections (French)
Data states
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absolute monarchies
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Enlightenment
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espionage, secret services, state apparatus, military logistic
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knowing the state, planned state
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Prussia, Bourbon house, Napoleon, Bach-era (AHM)
Modern data states
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informer-networks - Stasi 100k, KGB 1m people
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Russia, USA, China
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mixed analogue and digital methods
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data collection outsourced to tech giants
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connecting personal data is "forbidden" by law in democracies
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state monopoly
Risks
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loosing, emptying privacy
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predicative judgements by algorythms
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"good intentioned" digital instruments and tools - health apps
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unpredictable harms - what seemed to be "precise" data collection for organization or production, can be the groundwork for exploitation, invasion or even genocide
Risks
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the problem is not only the growth of the risks, but the change of the nature of the risks
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many time the exchange is consensual - they ask us to provide information without knowing how the information will be used in the future and for what purpose
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we make decisions based on past and present knowledge, but we can't (or we don't want) measure future risks
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Enemy of the State, 1998
Minority Report, 2002
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html
Public interest
we give our data
exchange?
Public interest
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isolation of the state
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defunct open data initiatives
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governmental interventions
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re-definition of public interest data
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badly designed regulation
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falling of the citizen interest in public interest
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"stateism"
Public interest
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badly designed institutions
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different, outdated data formats
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decreasing availability of data
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closed academic sphere, rare collaboration
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bad quality of data
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non-reliable data (non-transparent and unaccountable)
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intentional wrongdoings, damaging of data
Data, Society and Politics of Digital Information
By Attila Bátorfy
Data, Society and Politics of Digital Information
- 598