Big Data's Threat to Liberty: Surveillance, Nudging, and the Curation of Information

Description

Big Data permeates all aspects of modern life, and while there is no shortage of potential benefits resulting from this, author Henrik Skaug Sætra argues that we must also understand the threats Big Data poses to liberty. The issues discussed in Big Data’s Threat to Liberty: Surveillance, Nudging, and the Curation of Information are related to how we are constantly under surveillance. Data is gathered from our homes, our cars, our smartphones, various devices around the house, and public sources such as facial recognition enabled camera surveillance and various websites and social networks. Furthermore, the information gathered is used to influence our actions. Detailed personality profiles are utilized in order to make us purchase products and services, or pay our taxes, through tailor-made nudges aimed at irrational and subconscious mechanisms, and delivered with a level of precision only possible with Big Data-driven algorithmic curation of data. Finally, the information we receive through various media is curated by algorithms, and even people are curated in order to satisfy our desires. By providing us with what the algorithm believes we want, we are spared from the exposure of unpleasant information, and even unpleasant people. The ideological landscapes we traverse are thus characterized by conformity, and a concomitant tyranny of popular opinion becomes ever more coercive as this occurs. The question is: How does being constantly watched, manipulated, and having our world-views shaped as just described affect our freedom? In this book it is argued that Big Data’s threat to individual liberty is routinely misunderstood and underappreciated due to (a) vagueness resulting from the concept of liberty being used without it being defined, or (b) the use of definitions based on flawed understandings of what liberty is. In this new and unique contribution to the ethics of Big Data and artificial intelligence, both these challenges are thoroughly addressed. BIG DATA’S THREAT TO LIBERTY Surveillance, Nudging, and the Curation of Information Copyright Foreword Preface 1 . Introduction Introduction The boundaries of the current undertaking Philosophical, theoretical, and methodological foundations Who is this book for? The structure of the book References 2 . Technologies and society Introduction Big Data as a logic and a system of technologies Big Data Artificial intelligence, algorithms, and machine learning Liberty in its various guises Negative liberty Positive liberty Liberty as nondomination, independence, and autonomy References 3 . Liberty under surveillance Introduction Big Data surveillance The gathering of Big Data From Big Data to Big Brother Proposition 3.11 When Big Brother sees you Privacy and private information Big Data and superficial voluntariness Proposition 3.2 Surveillance and freedom The threat of passive surveillance The threat of active surveillance The threat of surveillance proper Danger of abuse Proposition 3.3 Freedom under the gaze of Big Data Big Data surveillance as a threat to liberty The threat to positive liberty The threat to negative liberty Conclusion References 4 . Big Data nudging and liberty Introduction Nudging Proposition 4.1 When the nudge is powered by Big Data The rise of Big Data When Big Data powers the nudge and makes it a shove Proposition 4.2 Nudging and liberty Is nudging liberty reducing? Negative liberty Positive liberty The manipulative and coercive nature of nudging Nudging and coercion Rational persuasion Manipulation and secret coercion Nonphysical force “Best when invisible” Nudging as (a) ineffective and (b) unavoidable, and (c) choice is exhausting Tolerating nudging because it is ineffective Tolerating nudging because it is unavoidable Tolerating nudging because choosing is exhausting Proposition 4.3 When nudge comes to shove The premises of my argument Big Data nudging as a threat to liberty Conclusion References 5 . The algorithmic tyranny of perceived opinion Introduction Big Data and information Human nature, selective exposure, and confirmation bias Proposition 5.1 Algorithms, curation of information, and “filter bubbles” Proposition 5.2 Intergroup heterogeneity and intragroup homogeneity Proposition 5.3 Freedom Liberty and tyranny as political and social phenomena Proposition 5.4 Information and individuality Proposition 5.5 The threat of a tyranny of perceived opinion Turning the propositions into premises The tyranny of perceived opinion Conclusion References 6 . The three threats in concert Introduction Nudging by curation of information The expectancy effect The Proteus effect The Thomas theorem Privacy is a public good Relational leakages General profiles The difficulty of preserving privacy Summary References 7 . Liberty in the era of Big Data Introduction Preliminaries Power and attribution of action Attributing interference Perfectionism and the ranking of values Interference: beyond the physical Coercion, threats, and manipulation Interference and privacy Privacy as a precondition The implications for liberal policy Summary References 8 . Conclusion References Index A B C D E F G H I L M N O P R S T U V Z