Data, Democracy and Freedom with Dr Colin Bennett

At no other time in history has technology and its use of data had the potential to either promote or threaten our personal freedoms and democratic institutions. Delving into this promise and peril is the focus of our dedicated three-part series – Data, Democracy and Freedom.

It examines:

• How people’s information can be weaponized to undermine elections and democracy.
• How to preserve civil liberties and strike the right balance between national security/program delivery and upholding privacy rights.
• How technology may be influencing our freedom of thought and expression.

In this first episode, Guernsey Data Protection Commissioner Brent Homan sits down with privacy and civil liberties advocate Dr Colin Bennett to discuss Privacy and Politics, surveillance technologies, and whether artificial intelligence is a friend or foe for personal freedom.
 

"I think AI can and will be used in order to accentuate and to enhance the process of micro-targeting so that you're not only looking at a particular group of people…. but you're also able to create the content which pushes their buttons, either positively or more troublingly negatively in order to suppress the vote.” (Dr Colin Bennett)

Dr Bennett is Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria, Canada, Professor Emeritus at UVIC as well as an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Global Studies, and writer of many books and articles including: ‘Transparent Lives: Surveillance in Canada’; ‘Security Games: Surveillance and Control at Mega-Events’; and ‘The Governance of Privacy: Policy Instruments in Global Perspective’.