Research Proposal Phd Digital Arts And Humanities Oxford Cork Michael Kurzmeier

One of the biggest concerns in the United States of America today is privacy. For its citizens, this concern is due mostly in part to new developments in technology and big data collection. Yes, this technology and data collection is beneficial for American citizens and is a step in the right direction for humankind, but to what extent? The CQ Researcher article titled, “Big Data and Privacy” by Tom Price answers just that question. More specifically, a monumental factor for technological advancement this article explains is the use of personal information by the producers of new technology and the collection of big data in this day in age. What makes this debate on the violation of privacy through the use personal information by businesses, as well as, the general population, is that big data collection is the staple of technological advancement and serves as a convenience for Americans. Although big data collection and technology serves as an extreme benefit in relation to convenience and societal advancement for those who use and consume it, how far will scientists, researchers, businesses, and the government push before it becomes a violation our privacy as citizens of the United States of America?

In his text, “How we sold our souls – and more – to the internet giants,” Bruce Schneier offers compelling insight into the extensive articulation of internet surveillance in the powerful corporate world. Schneier’s analysis of power relations and his claim that personal “[d]ata is power,” reflect his concern that as internet surveillance increases, the imbalance of power between individuals and internet businesses will continue to grow and deepen as well. Therefore, to avoid furthering asymmetries of power in contemporary digital society, Schneier highlights the need for regulation of data processing and urges governments to act by implementing rules and regulations that will help balance power relationships between the surveillers and the

In the twenty first century, everyone is gluing their eyes to bright screens, and keeping their minds and mouths shut. The public mindlessly releasing information through dangerous domains, like the Internet, poses a great issue. Citizens do not realize where their information can be used and why it is used. This unfortunate circumstance is seen in Peter Singer’s “Visible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets.” Although there is a sensation of isolation for the public in this century, there should still be a great amount of openness when it comes to social and political events that involve information, and the ways that data is collected for these purposes.

Although technology has provided tools to enhance our capabilities in things such as finding a missing person, solving murder cases based on technological assets etc.., this technology also leaves us vulnerable in many ways to slowly losing our privacy (Burten, C., 2012).

We live in a society where it pays to watch your neighbor. Weather it's their favorite movie, shopping habits, or birthday, we can use information to market our products, sending our ads at the right time. Not only is this data gathering legal, you agree to the terms anytime you buy a new phone or download an app. Both the process and results, of “data mining”, are harmful to the individual and the society. In 1984, Big Brother uses his authority and surveillance abilities to survey the population.

Government surveillance in the past was not a big threat due to the limitations on technology; however, in the current day, it has become an immense power for the government. Taylor, author of a book on Electronic Surveillance supports, "A generation ago, when records were tucked away on paper in manila folders, there was some assurance that such information wouldn 't be spread everywhere. Now, however, our life stories are available at the push of a button" (Taylor 111). With more and more Americans logging into social media cites and using text-messaging devices, the more providers of metadata the government has. In her journal “The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit”, Anita L. Allen, an expert on privacy law, writes, “Contemporary technologies of data collection make secret, privacy invading surveillance easy and nearly irresistible. For every technology of confidential personal communication…there are one or more counter-technologies of eavesdropping” (Allen 1). Being in the middle of the Digital Age, we have to be much more careful of the kinds of information we put in our digital devices.

Even though “big data” is very valuable and has made many great gains for society in both efficiency and knowledge, with the increase in data collection and analytics there are many ethical concerns of how the data is being used because evidence based decision making within the analytics is often done solely on quantitative information, this creates digital inequity. Comparing and examining the works of Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr., we can develop our own ethical belief regarding some of the analytics used with “big data”.

Data Collection is a piece that was done in 2009 by a man named Dave Kemp. Dave Kemp is an artist who looks at the connections between art, science, and technology. He tries to understand how these fields shape our perception of the world we live in today. This piece was a collection of photographs taken of identification cards such as driver’s licenses, student cards, and other cards with personal information. This was done to 100 different people and then shown in an art gallery. The pictures were displayed in a 1:1 scale and it allowed viewers to see every bit of information on the cards. The goal of Data Collection was to challenge privacy, and bring awareness to the importance of personal information by doing the opposite and exposing

The book 1984, written by George Orwell was a revolutionary novel about his prediction of the future, which showed people with hardly any independent power and under constant surveillance by “the party”. At the time this book came out (1949) the future Orwell described seemed like pure fiction, but as the years go by the future he envisioned is becoming more and more like a reality. The main thing that is creating this reality is today’s technology, which could be used to track or get information from people, similar to technology in 1984.

Technological surveillance is used in a wide field of areas from wiretapping, hacking, bugging, electronic tracking, video surveillance and so on, but, “when used by the government, technological surveillance creates a particularly dramatic threat to the privacy of individual citizens” (p. 354), although this is uncertain to the government if it is indeed goes against citizen’s privacy. Technology advances so quickly, that the law cannot keep up with the swift changes.

The amount of data produced in the world is increasing exponentially, and we are a part of this phenomenon. We all use email, phones, social media, and credit cards. The new technologies that we are bringing home, such as smart cars and smart TVs, are collecting more and more data. Boyd and Crawford exposed the imperfections of the Big Data industry, and they have shown that we cannot assume that the industry will solve its own problems. By using all these technologies, we have given Big Data access to our finances, social interactions, homes, and minds. Big Data offers imperfect people tools that can be used for good and evil. If we are blind to how our data is being collected, the industry will continue misusing our data. But if we pay attention, and demand the technology companies respect our privacy, they will be forced to have higher standards. Currently, our society has ignored how our privacy is being jeopardized. As Boyd and Crawford noted, we don’t have the tools and access of researches, and our often unaware of the algorithms collecting our information (759,760). But we do have power. We can voice our concerns, or find alternatives to services that don’t respect us. We can use the tools we have access to for good, just like Big Data has been used

The claim/thesis statement of this article is “ this creature is not who we wish to be – it’s a raw, unfiltered, brutally revealing version of ourselves, built onour dossiers of clicks, keystrokes, swipes, likes, transactions and check-ins, absent wahtever inner belief drove them. If a soul is who you are no matter what everybody else sees, this digital you is the opposite of a soul: It is all action and no intention”. The summary of this statement is that we are losing our privacy with the advance modern technology.

Is the issue of privacy in the context of our modern world easy to comprehend? Are privacy and cyber security one of the most pressing issues in our world today, or can we leave the task up to our government officials to regulate? These are all questions that law professor Daniel J. Solove attempts to answer. Armed with the help of privacy specialists, authors and blog commenters, Solove begins to unpack the nuanced dichotomy between privacy, surveillance and data collection. There are many opposing viewpoints that seek to sway the reader’s attention from the task at hand, which is demystifying the certain perils of our transparent world, which can be somewhat difficult to wrap the reader’s head around. The article’s rationale, while scattered, is consistent and layered in thought. While his credentials and literary examples bring an element of validity to the table, the nothing-to-hide argument messes with his rationale.

Today, it seems as if everyone is connected through his or her own cell phone. With this they create data and information, intentionally or not using them. This information can be collected from applications, text messaging, and simple just walking around with a cell phone connected. This data may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and other association relating to human behavior. The creation and use of this data is what today’s society puts under the large umbrella of big data. This paper discusses the ethics of collection practices and use of big data.

“Societies have always been shaped by media for communication, it is impossible to understand social and cultural change without knowledge of the workings of media even the alphabet is a technology that is absorbed by young children to learn to speak through communication. The digital age is changing the way we use our brains. Rather than store important facts, today we are more likely to store information about how to find those facts where a particular file is located on the computer, how to find an important webpage again.