JustData Workshop on (Big) Hopes and Hazards of Big Data

Workshop
Friday, May 12, 2017, 10:30 am – 4:30 pm

Power Watching People or People Watching Power?

  • History, Technology and State Surveillance
  • Privacy and Right to Information
  • Proposing a Framework for Transparency

Technological advances in identification make it possible for us to, for example, use our cellphones to pay bills and to drive through toll lanes without stopping. These same technological advances also place an enormous amount of private information in the hands of corporations and governments – and raise serious concerns about privacy and security.

In March 2016, the Indian government passed the Aadhaar Act 2016 (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) to provide legal backing to the Unique (bio-metric) Identification number project, which enables the government to track the majority of its citizens.  Supporters of this legislation claim that it will ensure more efficient service delivery and reduce corruption. Opponents argue that handing access and control of such data to governments can actually cover up corruption and become a tool for politics of exclusion, leading to a substantial erosion of privacy and civil liberties and towards a totalitarian state.

During a day-long workshop, activists and academics, legal scholars and data scientists will discuss the impact of identification technologies on civil liberties and democratic values.

Panelists include:

This event is part of the JustData project.