Friends, Foes Of Big Data Discuss Its Promise For Development, Privacy Issues

Big data and artificial intelligence hold promise for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but risks associated with extensive data collection should not be minimised, according to speakers at this week’s Internet Governance Forum. Of particular concern: privacy issues, the digital divide, the need for raising awareness of internet users, and current or upcoming legislation and guidelines seeking to address challenges associated with big data.

The panel, organised by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), looked at the implications of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) for building inclusive knowledge societies and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It took place on 20 December during the Internet Governance Forum, held in Geneva from 17-21 December.

Mila Romanoff, legal specialist & privacy officer at the UN Global Pulse, a special initiative of the UN secretary general on big data, said big data present “terrific opportunities,” for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She cited anonymised mobile data to understand movement of population in humanitarian crises, such as floods for example.

The use of Twitter also proved very important in understanding what people need in times of crises, such as what are their critical needs and where aid could be delivered, she said.

However, she said, as big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are evolving very rapidly, there is a need to understand how they develop, and there cannot be only one static policy or one static tool to help assess the risks associated with big data and AI in terms of privacy.

A number of UN agencies have drafted and implemented privacy standards, such as UNESCO, the International Telecommunication Union, and UNICEF, she said.

The UN Development Group released this year Data Privacy, Ethics And Protection: Guidance Note [pdf] on Big Data for Achievement of the 2030 Agenda, which is the first instrument across the UN to highlight privacy ethics and data protection with regards to big data. It is a living document that can be adapted as the technology evolves, she said.

According to Wikipedia, big data is “data sets that are so voluminous and complex that traditional data processing application software are inadequate to deal with them.”

Council of Europe to Release Revised Data Convention

Sophie Kwasny, head of the Data Protection Unit of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, said some of the conventions issued by the Council of Europe are open and meant to be used in the entire world. She, too, underlined the potential and benefits of big data and AI for humankind.

Big data and AI do not rely solely on personal data, she said, but also on non-personal data, which should be facilitated. Non-personal data include anonymised data, she said, adding that personal data is data that enables identification of a person.

The possibility of re-identifying a person from anonymised data is one of the risks associated with big data, Kwasny said, and in that case those data should fall under a protection framework.

The Council of Europe Convention on Data Protection dates back to 1981, she said, but the Council is in the process of revising it, adding the revised text will “hopefully” be released in 2018.

Some novelties of the revised text will include the right not to be subject to a decision significantly affecting a person, that would be solely based on automatic processing of data without having the person’s views being taken into consideration, she explained.

The revised convention will also include the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data unless there are conditions that may restrict this right, she said, adding that the obligation of transparency from controllers will be very strong in the revised convention, as well as other obligations including data privacy impact assessments, privacy by design, and privacy by default.

The Council also adopted guidelines on the protection of persons in the world of big data in January 2017, she said.

Political Will Needed to Enforce Human Rights in Digital World

Nanjira Sambuli, digital equality advocacy manager at the World Wide Web Foundatio,n remarked that no new technology will make up for the lack of political or social will to ensure the enforcement of human rights. If big data and AI are developed in a space where human rights have not been fundamentally upheld, they could become tools for oppression and further divide, she said.

It is necessary to evaluate how past technologies have benefitted communities who had been left behind, she said, adding that “it is very sexy to talk about leapfrogging,” going from landlines to AI. However, those communities must be able to audit these technologies, question how they would benefit them, and develop a culture of consent on data collecting.

Internet Users do not Need to Disclose their Lives

Tijani Ben Jemaa, director of the Mediterranean Federation of Internet Associations, said the collection of data may be a source of innovation and growth, however it can also be used for personal attack, political interests, and simply sold. “Data can be used against us without our knowledge,” he said.

Technical solutions can be used to protect data but their efficiency is limited and need regular updating. Legal solutions exist but the efficiency of regulations depend on how they are applied, and regulations cannot cover each and every case.

He mentioned the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), to enter into force in May 2018, which he said will be “a real move in data protection.”

The GDPR, he said, will have an extended territory scope, and will be applicable to non-European entities or European ones which are not located in Europe.

Data protection also requires behavioural solutions, according to Ben Jemaa. Users should be made aware of the risk of sharing information, and how to behave on the internet. Users do not have to put the details of their life on the internet, he said.

 

Image Credits: Internet Governance Forum