Sabina Leonelli in Times Higher Education: “Big data are widely seen as a game-changer in scientific research, promising new and efficient ways to produce knowledge. And yet, large and diverse data collections are nothing new – they have long existed in fields such as meteorology, astronomy and natural history.
It is often forgotten that laws concerning data privacy serve purposes other than protecting privacy alone. Research conducted by this writer in New Zealand over the last decade has conclusively established in the first place that the vast majority (around 80% in one study) of litigation brought under the Privacy Act 1993 (the Act) was connected with a pre-existing dispute between the parties unrelated to privacy which spilt over into a privacy dispute.
As more of our personal data is held in centralized, remote storage, it has become a tempting target for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Through various investigatory powers, these government agencies can demand that social media companies, e-mail providers, ISPs, and other intermediaries turn over sensitive records and message content. Are governments abusing their investigatory powers?
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard a petition seeking directions to ensure audio-visual recording of the proceedings in trial courts. The reasoning behind the request was that recording proceedings would enhance the fairness of trials. The Supreme Court decided to limit the question to whether CCTV (video only) cameras may be installed at various […]
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Sandra Braman, Abbott Professor of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University
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Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 12:00 pmBerkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
March 4th is Open Data Day! Open Data Day is an annual celebration of open data all over the world. For the fifth time in history, groups from around the world will create local events on the day where they will use open data in their communities. Here is a look at how groups can use the data.world platform to identify data sources and collaborate with open data users.
Thursday, March 2, 2017 @ The GovLab, 2 Metrotech Center, 9th Floor, Brooklyn 11201
RSVP here
Is Data the Oil of the 21st Century?
Learning from History: From a Century of Oil to a Century of Data
Global Partners Digital: “Today we’re launching a new series of podcasts – titled In beta – with the aim of critically examining the big questions facing human rights in the digital environment.
The series will be hosted by GPD’s executive director, Charles Bradley, who will interview a different guest – or guests – for each episode.
Jeremy R. Levine in Social Forces: “From town halls to public forums, disadvantaged neighborhoods appear more “participatory” than ever. Yet increased participation has not necessarily resulted in increased influence. This article, drawing on a four-year ethnographic study of redevelopment politics in Boston, presents an explanation for the decoupling of participation from the promise of democratic decision-making.
Jeremy Berg in Science: “In 1854, physician John Snow helped curtail a cholera outbreak in a London neighborhood by mapping cases and identifying a central public water pump as the potential source. This event is considered by many to represent the founding of modern epidemiology. Data and analysis play an increasingly important role in public health today.
Tomas Urbina at Motherboard: “In 2015, after finishing a soccer game in Chile’s capital, Santiago, engineering student Cristián Lara and his friends noticed an older man picking through a dumpster nearby. He was searching for anything that could be recycled, and loading it onto his bike.
Book by Gohar Feroz Khan: “This book provides practical know-how on understanding, implementing, and managing main stream social media tools (e.g., blogs and micro-blogs, social network sites, and content communities) from a public sector perspective. Through social media, government organizations can inform citizens, promote their services, seek public views and feedback, and monitor satisfaction with the services they offer so as to improve their quality.
For the past few years, the USA has been an example of how governments can manage open government initiatives and open data particularly. They have done this by introducing positions like federal chief information officer and chief data officers.