Twitteretter

Donald Trump has been banned from Facebook. All he had to do to get to this outcome is engage in a ten year campaign of overt racism, inciting to hate and violence against foreigners, blacks, women and Muslims, insult a wide range of public figures, attempt to delegitimise American democracy, apologise for white supremacism, excuse a number of murders and lie to the public over 20,000 times in under 4 years. My 17 year old son has also been permanently banned from Facebook, after two innocuous posts and the grand crime of attempting to create a business page for his first, minor entrepreneurial project. All requests for reinstatement so far have been cast aside by Artificial Stupidity Systems (their performance doesn’t grant the more common AI moniker) and we have to date not managed to reach a human intelligence which may take a more sympathetic view. I hope the only thing Samuel ever has in common with Trump is the complete inability of Facebook to treat both of them commensurately...

A debate is raging about personal data, their value and their protection. Businesses earn staggering profits by selling or exploiting personal data which does not belong to them and which they have not been given explicit informed consent by the rightful owners to use in such way. The result is often exploitative marketing and political misdirection. This is a serious issue most citizens do not take seriously. The right use of data can have huge social value. For example, in the understanding of disease and the development of treatments or diagnostics which fundamentally change the outcomes for patients. But consent must be considered, reflective and explicit, given carefully and taken solemnly. This is one of the great modern challenges. If we can solve it successfully, if we can educate citizens to grant and withhold this consent on the basis of the real value they and society will derive from their data, we will build a better society. If we don’t, our dystopic journey will continue...