Elections, Privacy Data, and Violations of Law – The Severe Democratic Challenge

Cambridge Analytica (CA) secretly collected 87 million Facebook user’s data. David Carroll legally challenged CA to recapture his voter profile. The parent company of CA, SCL Elections, was fined. On challenges for democracy and the 2016 US Presidential Elections, Brexit, and the Cambridge Analytica / Facebook Scandal.

When

12. June.

Time: 13:15 - 14:45


What

Voting is the core action in a democracy. Individually targeted disinformation by illegally using privacy data is a violation of democratic ideals. What did the British company Cambridge Analytica know about voters in the 2016 US Presidential Election and Brexit? How was privacy information exploited to influence the elections?

David Carroll tried to recapture his “hidden” voter profile by using European data protection law. He took the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, SCL Elections, to court in the UK. In January 2019 the parent company pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching the Data Protection Act and failing to comply with an enforcement notice from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at the Hendon Magistrates Court. SCL Elections was fined £15 000.

David Carroll reflects on his experiences as an academic and a citizen. He argues that the privacy of the citizens is at the core of a democracy, and that the guarding of privacy data ought to be a national security issue. 

Bio:
David Carroll is Associate Professor of Media Design at The New School, New York. Applying the Data Protection Act he legally challenged the Cambridge Analytica and related companies in the UK. The Netflix film Great Hack (to be released) features this challenge. So does articles in WIRED, the Guardian and other national and international media.

Discussion Panel:
Frøy Gudbrandsen, Political Editor, Bergens Tidende; Truls Pedersen, Associate Professor in Information Science, University of Bergen; Sjur Dyrkolbotn, Associate Professor in Law and Technology, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Moderator:

Per Christian Magnus, Head of Centre for Investigative Journalism, University of Bergen at Media City Bergen


This event is part of the Media City Bergen Future Week on June 11-14.
50+ events will be taking place inside the Media City Bergen building, and all focused on topics that challenge our common future as it is driven and shaped by technology.

Read more about it here: https://www.mediacitybergen.no/future-week/

If you are interested in more events like this, you can sign up to our newsletter here: http://bit.ly/NCEmedianyhetsbrev

Where

UiB in Media City Bergen, main entrance 2nd floor
Lars Hilles gate 30
5008 Bergen

Organizer

Future Week, UiB, NCE Media