If political advertising is getting smarter, should we too?
Our data is something that we do and should care about. People feel disempowered by a lack of transparency in how online products and services operate. 89% want clearer terms and conditions, half would like to know how their data is used but can’t find out.
So thank goodness for GDPR right?
Who’d have thought we’d cared so much about this little EU acronym so much? That it would be trending on Twitter and cluttering up our inboxes and turned into jokes and memes?
It really is at the forefront of the general public’s consciousness at the moment. But just because we’re talking about it, does it mean we really understand what it means and how we’re affected by it?
Doteveryone’s People, Power and Technology research into the nation’s digital understanding found the nation currently has low levels of understanding (knowing the implications of the internet, as opposed to having digital skills per se). It reveals how key aspects of the internet remain a mystery for many — from how platforms gather and use our data to how the information we leave behind online allows companies to vary the prices we pay.
As our CEO, Rachel Coldicutt, has previously written about, the information rights afforded to us by GDPR will be “meaningless unless the public is in a position to exercise them.” Without new codes of practice for design and consent in the technology industry, so that products and services do the hard work to be understandable, citizens will remain at the bottom of the digital food chain.
Released today, the quirky drama-documentary on data and democracy, Mind-Reading Algorithms are Stealing our Democracy, helps to raise awareness that data is not only being used to serve you ads about your favourite food but also to persuade you and predict how you might vote!
Through a combination of expert interviews and good old-fashioned alien invasion melodrama, it’s an accessible story, that in just 10 minutes informs audiences about how online marketing works and how it could be affecting our democracy. It helps to lift the lid on what’s really been going on with our data, on social media and with Cambridge Analytica.
The film was previewed at Lush Studio Soho on Tuesday evening and included a panel Q&A, hosted by Wired’s Matt Reynolds, with our CEO, Rachel Coldicutt, Privacy International’s Data Programme Lead, Frederike Kaltheuner, Adam Ay, the film’s director and Lee Brown, one of the actors. One of the questions it raised was whether it is us, as citizens, who should be responsible for taking steps to change our online behaviour as a result of such recent revelations.
Now there certainly are things that we can do to defend ourselves against these data-guzzling aliens and we have included some tips and examples of organisations, in our latest People, Power and Technology report to help people to more effectively navigate the online world.
One such example is the Tactical Technology Collective’s Data Detox Kit which provides users with an 8-day service to get them on their way to “a healthier and more in-control digital self”.
Here’s a resources directory we’ve pulled together with other examples. We encourage you to add any good ones you’ve come across so that, collectively, we can empower ourselves, as citizens to fight back against those data guzzling aliens.
But whilst it is important that we are equipped with the tools to be able to take control of our digital life and the data detox kit is a great example, we don’t think it should just be the individual’s responsibility to look after themselves online.
It’s also the responsibility of the companies who’ve been relentlessly emailing us, the social media platforms we engage with every day, the producers of the various digital products and devices that collect our personal data, to make understandability the building block of everyone’s digital experience.
And the government has a responsibility to create and enforce standards of transparency and accountability for digital products and services.
These actions then also need to be supported with public education to help close this understanding gap.
Will it work? Is GDPR going to do enough to improve our digital understanding?
GDPR shouldn’t distract us from the need for a broader conversation, particularly about the regulation of digital technologies. We’re doing a lot of work on this at the moment, having written up a paper making the case for an independent internet regulator. We appreciate the expert support and input we had into this and welcome further input into the next phase of this work which explores how we can put the principles we describe into practice. Please send us your contributions to hello@doteveryone.org.uk.
