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1. Developing a Framework for Collective Data Rights

Author:
Jeni Tennison
Publication Date:
12-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Are collective data rights really necessary? Or, do people and communities already have sufficient rights to address harms through equality, public administration or consumer law? Might collective data rights even be harmful by undermining individual data rights or creating unjust collectivities? If we did have collective data rights, what should they look like? And how could they be introduced into legislation? Data protection law and policy are founded on the notion of individual notice and consent, originating from the handling of personal data gathered for medical and scientific research. However, recent work on data governance has highlighted shortcomings with the notice-and-consent approach, especially in an age of big data and artificial intelligence. This special reports considers the need for collective data rights by examining legal remedies currently available in the United Kingdom in three scenarios where the people affected by algorithmic decision making are not data subjects and therefore do not have individual data protection rights.
Topic:
Privacy, Data Governance, Consent, and Digital Rights
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Toward a Model Code for Digital Safety

Author:
Michel Girard
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Although standards are being published to address privacy, cybersecurity and high-risk artificial intelligence, more needs to be done to address digital harms. Stakeholders are playing catch-up with a tsunami of new, unproven digital technologies, and standards are developed after the fact. One approach gaining traction is the development of a model code for digital safety. This code would define a set of core values that should be embedded in new digital technologies in order to prevent harms from occurring in the first place. This would replicate what stakeholders have been doing for close to 100 years to ensure the safety of the built environment.
Topic:
Cybersecurity, Privacy, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Safety
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Financial Freedom and Privacy in the Post‐​Cash World

Author:
Alex Gladstein
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The future of currency is digital. The majority of transactions made every day are already electronic and controlled by banks or tech companies. These payments are easily surveillable, confiscatable, and censorable. Physical cash still functions as an essential savings mechanism and privacy tool for millions of people worldwide. With cash, individuals can buy goods and services or save without sharing their identity with a third‐​party merchant or custodian. But as banknotes fade from daily use, the future of financial freedom and privacy comes into serious jeopardy.
Topic:
Finance, Privacy, Freedom, Digital Currency, and Cash
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Are Current Models of Data Protection Fit for Purpose? Understanding the Consequences for Economic Development

Author:
Michael Pisa and Ugonma Nwankwo
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
This brief is based on a roundtable hosted by CGD as part of the Governing Data for Development project, which explores how governments can use data to support innovation, development, and inclusive growth while protecting citizens and communities against harm.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Privacy, and Models
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Protecting Freedom of Thought in the Digital Age

Author:
Susie Alegre
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
As digital technology plays an ever-increasing role in our lives, the need for regulations to protect our rights to freedom of thought and opinion is becoming more apparent, especially with regard to social media platforms’ relentless mission to get inside people’s heads using their personal data. International human rights law protects our right to freedom of thought, which includes the right to keep our thoughts and opinions private, the right not to have our thoughts and opinions manipulated, and the right not to be penalized for our thoughts and opinions. This policy brief will explore strategies to protect these rights in digital spaces.
Topic:
Human Rights, Science and Technology, Privacy, and Digitalization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Designing Institutional Collaboration into Global Governance

Author:
C. Randall Henning
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Collaboration among international institutions is essential for high-quality governance in many areas of global policy, yet it is chronically undersupplied. Numerous opportunities for institutional collaboration are being missed and there are calls for deepening collaboration in discourse on global governance — in new areas of governance, such as digital privacy, content moderation and platforms; better-established areas, such as climate change and biodiversity; as well as long-established but nonetheless evolving areas, such as international finance, development and trade. There are several obstacles to collaboration, including key countries’ using some institutions to constrain others, a strategy of “complexity for control.” This policy brief suggests that in designing international institutions, states and other principals should draw from a tool kit of strategies and techniques for promoting collaboration, including introducing or developing formal and informal mechanisms, and harnessing the Group of Seven and the Group of Twenty to foster collaboration proactively. New institutions should be designed from the outset to collaborate with others in a dense institutional environment.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Privacy, Institutions, Innovation, and Collaboration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. On Technological Surveillance in the Fight against Coronavirus

Author:
Yaakov Amidror
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
Abstract:
The use of special measures to stop the virus is necessary, even though this impinges on individual privacy rights, if the data is deleted after a short time.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Privacy, Surveillance, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Governing Big Tech’s Pursuit of the “Next Billion Users”

Author:
Michael Pisa and John Polcari
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
en years ago, only 6 percent of the population in low-income and lower-middle-income countries had access to the internet. Today, nearly one in every three people there does. The rapid expansion of internet access across the globe is a welcome development, but it raises new policy challenges. And while there is broad agreement in the development community on the importance of getting digital policy “right,” too little attention has been paid to how policymakers in the developing world can best engage with the companies who dominate the digital landscape. As governments reassess their relationship with these companies, an increasing number are enacting policies that raise barriers to the cross-border flow of data and put the largely global and open nature of the internet at risk. In this paper, we review how internet use has evolved in the developing world over the last decade, with a focus on initiatives by big tech companies to reach the “Next Billion Users.” We then examine how concerns about data privacy, disinformation, and market concentration have manifested in lower-income countries and how policymakers have begun to respond. We close by considering ways the development community can support policymakers seeking to maximize the benefits of an open internet while minimizing its risks.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Governance, Inequality, Privacy, Internet, and Emerging Technology
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. Moving the Encryption Policy Conversation Forward

Author:
Encryption Working Group
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Strong data encryption thwarts criminals and preserves privacy. At the same time, it complicates law enforcement investigations. A Carnegie working group looks to move the debate forward.
Topic:
Security, Science and Technology, Law Enforcement, and Privacy
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

10. The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance

Author:
Steven Feldstein
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly proliferating around the world. Startling developments keep emerging, from the onset of deepfake videos that blur the line between truth and falsehood, to advanced algorithms that can beat the best players in the world in multiplayer poker. Businesses harness AI capabilities to improve analytic processing; city officials tap AI to monitor traffic congestion and oversee smart energy metering. Yet a growing number of states are deploying advanced AI surveillance tools to monitor, track, and surveil citizens to accomplish a range of policy objectives—some lawful, others that violate human rights, and many of which fall into a murky middle ground. In order to appropriately address the effects of this technology, it is important to first understand where these tools are being deployed and how they are being used. Unfortunately, such information is scarce. To provide greater clarity, this paper presents an AI Global Surveillance (AIGS) Index—representing one of the first research efforts of its kind. The index compiles empirical data on AI surveillance use for 176 countries around the world. It does not distinguish between legitimate and unlawful uses of AI surveillance. Rather, the purpose of the research is to show how new surveillance capabilities are transforming the ability of governments to monitor and track individuals or systems. It specifically asks: Which countries are adopting AI surveillance technology? What specific types of AI surveillance are governments deploying? Which countries and companies are supplying this technology?
Topic:
Science and Technology, Privacy, Surveillance, and Artificial Intelligence
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Global Focus