Algorithmic discrimination: Big data analytics and the future of the Internet

Book chapter from: J. S. Winter & R. Ono (Eds.)., The future Internet: Alternative visions (pp.125–140). Cham: Springer. 2015

Is Internet access a human right? Linking information and communication technology (ICT) development with global human rights efforts

Peer-reviewed journal article; preprint.The wave of uprisings and protests in Arab nations since late 2010, in part attributed to the use of social media and Internet access, has demonstrated the immense potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) channeled for democracy. This paper argues that universal access to the global Internet is essential for the preservation of democracy and human rights and places the recent United Nations declaration that Internet access is a human right in the context of ongoing debates about the right to communicate, clarifying the distinction between universal service and the right to communicate. In particular, access to online content, required infrastructure, and ICTs is addressed, underscoring “the unique and transformative nature of the Internet not only to enable individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, but also a range of other human rights, and to promote the progress of society as a whole” (United Nations Human Rights Council, 2011, p.1). A basic right to communicate should also include access to developments such as the World Wide Web and emerging social media, as these are increasingly enabling active citizen participation (Winter & Wedemeyer, 2009). Envisioning participatory policy as grass-roots engagement, I address claims that modern ICTs can be employed to create public spaces for discourse and a reinvigoration of democratic processes (e.g., the Internet as a platform for the “public sphere” as imagined by Habermas, 1991) and emphasize the need to link ICT development with human rights efforts worldwide

Emerging policy problems related to ubiquitous computing

Peer-reviewed journal articleThis paper provides an overview of the human-centered vision of Ubiquitous Computing and draws on research examining slowly emerging problems over a long-term time frame in the emerging Ubiquitous Computing environment. A six-phase process employing scenario planning, electronic focus groups, and problem assessment surveys harnessed the insight of 165 individuals from diverse backgrounds and regions throughout the State of Hawaii. Distinct differences were found between the problem identification of specialists (policymakers and systems designers) and non-specialists (everyday citizens), and there were significant differences found in the problem assessment between groups. The greatest differences in both phases emerged from social and psychological issues related to the emerging Ubiquitous Computing environment. It is argued that in addition to enormous technical changes, Ubiquitous Computing will serve to blur sociotechnical boundaries throughout the environment, challenging existing distinctions between humans and machine intelligences. As the potential for extending human capabilities via computing and communications technology is actualized in coming decades, what it means to be human will be a major source of public policy conflicts, and the early identification of problems related to these changes is essential in order to mitigate their impacts and socially negotiate a more desirable future

Privacy and the emerging Internet of Things

Conference paper from the Pacific Telecommunications Council Annual Conference (2012).The Internet of Things is an emerging global infrastructure that employs wireless sensors to collect, store, and exchange data. Increasingly, applications for marketing and advertising have been articulated as a means to enhance the consumer shopping experience, in addition to improving efficiency. However, privacy advocates have challenged the mass aggregation of personally-identifiable information in databases and geotracking, the use of location-based services to identify one’s precise location over time. This paper employs the framework of contextual integrity related to privacy developed by Nissenbaum (2010) as a tool to understand citizens in Hawaii’s response to specific implementations of Internet of Things-related technologies. The purpose of the study was to identify and understand specific changes in information practices that will be brought about by the Internet of Things that may be perceived as privacy violations. Specifically, what changes in actors, attributes, and transmission principle related to the Internet of Things can be identified, and what do these reveal about underlying norms? Eight citizens were interviewed, read a scenario of near-term Internet of Things implementations in the supermarket, and were asked to reflect on changes in the key actors involved, information attributes, principles of transmission. Areas where new practices occur with the Internet of Things were then highlighted as potential problems (privacy violations). Issues identified included the mining of medical data, invasive targeted advertising, and loss of autonomy through marketing profiles or personal affect monitoring. While there were numerous aspects deemed desirable by the participants, some developments appeared to tip the balance between consumer benefit and corporate gain. Their surveillance power creates an imbalance between the consumer and the corporation that may also impact individual autonomy. The policy implications of these findings are discussed

Governance of artificial intelligence and personal health information

Peer-reviewed journal article: Winter, J. S., & Davidson, E. (2019). “Governance of artificial intelligence and personal health information.” Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance (DPRG), 21(3), 280-290. Special issue on “Artificial Intelligence: Beyond the hype?” doi:10.1108/DPRG-08-2018-0048Purpose – This paper aims to assess the increasing challenges to governing the personal health information (PHI) essential for advancing artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning innovations in health care. Risks to privacy and justice/equity are discussed, along with potential solutions. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper highlights the scale and scope of PHI data consumed by deep learning algorithms and their opacity as novel challenges to health data governance. Findings – This paper argues that these characteristics of machine learning will overwhelm existing data governance approaches such as privacy regulation and informed consent. Enhanced governance techniques and tools will be required to help preserve the autonomy and rights of individuals to control their PHI. Debate among all stakeholders and informed critique of how, and for whom, PHI-fueled health AI are developed and deployed are needed to channel these innovations in societally beneficial directions. Social implications – Health data may be used to address pressing societal concerns, such as operational and system-level improvement, and innovations such as personalized medicine. This paper informs work seeking to harness these resources for societal good amidst many competing value claims and substantial risks for privacy and security. Originality/value – This is the first paper focusing on health data governance in relation to AI/machine learning. Keywords – Big data, Governance, Artificial intelligence, Deep learning, Personal health informatio

Carrying forward the Uses and Grats 2.0 agenda: An affordance-driven measure of social media uses and gratifications

Peer-reviewed journal articleThe notion of social media affordances has not been fully integrated into the uses and gratifications literature. Building on the MAIN (modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability) model, this study develops and tests a social media uses and gratifications scale with a sample of 393 college students. Results of the study support the MAIN model, as conceptualizing social media uses and gratifications as a second-order factor structure with 4 different types of affordances displays similar goodness-of-fit to a single-order factor structure. A confirmatory factor analysis with a second sample of 313 adults further confirms the applicability of the scale among the general population

Big data governance of personal health information and challenges to contextual integrity

Pervasive digitization and aggregation of personal health information (PHI), along with artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced analytical techniques, hold promise of improved health and healthcare services. These advances also pose significant data governance challenges for ensuring value for individual, organizational, and societal stakeholders as well as individual privacy and autonomy. Through a case study of a controversial public-private partnership between Royal Free Trust, a National Health Service hospital system in the United Kingdom, and Alphabet’s AI venture DeepMind Health, we investigate how forms of data governance were adapted, as PHI data flowed into new use contexts, to address concerns of contextual integrity, which is violated when personal information collected in one use context moves to another use context with different norms of appropriateness

Harmonizing Regulatory Regimes for the Governance of Patient-generated Health Data

Patient-generated health data (PGHD), created and captured from patients via wearable devices and mobile apps, are proliferating outside of clinical settings. Examples include sleep trackers, fitness trackers, continuous glucose monitors, and RFID-enabled implants, with many additional biometric or health surveillance applications in development or envisioned. These data are included in growing stockpiles of personal health data (PHI) being mined for insight by health economists, policy analysts, researchers, and health system organizations. Dominant narratives position these highly personal data as valuable resources to transform healthcare, stimulate innovation in medical research, and engage individuals in their health and healthcare. Large tech companies are also increasingly implicated in these areas, through mobile health application sales and data acquisitions. Given the many possible uses and users for PGHD, ensuring privacy, security, and equity of benefits from PGHD will be challenging. This is due in part to disparate regulatory policies and practices across technology firms, health system organizations, and health researchers. Rapid developments with PGHD technologies and the lack of harmonization between regulatory regimes may render existing safeguards to preserve patient privacy and control over their PGHD ineffective, while also failing to guide PGHD-related innovation in socially desirable directions. Using a policy regime lens to explore these challenges, we examine three existing data protection regimes relevant to PGHD in the United States that are currently in tension with one another: federal and state health-sector laws, regulations on data use and reuse for research and innovation, and industry self-regulation of consumer privacy by large tech companies. We argue that harmonization of these regimes is necessary to meet the challenges of PGHD data governance. We next examine emerging governing instruments, identifying three types of structures (organizational, regulatory, technological/algorithmic), which synergistically could help enact needed regulatory oversight while limiting the friction and economic costs of regulation that may hinder innovation. This policy analysis provides a starting point for further discussions and negotiations among stakeholders and regulators to do so

Cloud-based facial recognition: Establishing the citizen at the center of policy and design

This paper argues that data collection via cloud-based facial recognition technologies poses a grave threat to privacy, potentially hindering free speech and democratic discourse, and that related policies and systems must focus on citizens’ perceptions of appropriate use of personal data

Opening the flow of citizen engagement: An exploratory study of social networking services as a potential vehicle for e-participation in the City and County of Honolulu

Peer-reviewed journal articleThis study examined the use of Social Networking Services (SNS) by policymakers in the City and County of Honolulu. Interviews identified policymakers’ main reasons for using SNS, examined how SNS was integrated into the policymaking process, and also highlighted issues faced in deploying SNS for government services. The City and County informally initiated use of SNS in 2008, and use remained at an early stage of integration into business processes and operations at the time of this study. Government-operated SNS was primarily used as a one-way-information-based service. In this early stage, SNS was not being used to directly promote e-participation initiatives, although potential future uses were discussed. Government officials noted a spectrum of desired expectations regarding future development of SNS. We recommend an agency-wide use policy be created to provide for consistency of use across administrations and that a formal pilot study, addressing the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, be initiated