New Partnership with the organization RAID - Regulation of AI, Internet & Data

Centre director Mette Birkedal Bruun is already working in the intersection between research and policy in her posts in DFIR Member of The Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy at Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Also Mettes work as CO PI in the Docura project, Danish nursing home: between care, treatment and digital documentation is a policy-based project – with seed money funding from the Copenhagen Centre for Public Policy.

Ben Avison, Editorial and Conference Director, RAID reached out with a partnership proposition due to an interest in the research conducted at PRIVACY in the connection of history, religion and the rapidly changing world of technology in relation to privacy.

We have asked Ben Avison a few questions about the relation between research and policy and the relevance and need for a historical perspective in his work:

How did you come across the Centre for Privacy Studies?

I am very pleased to start the mutually supportive partnership between RAID (Regulation of AI, Internet & Data) conference and the Centre for Privacy Studies with this interview – thank you for the opportunity.

I discovered the Centre via the excellent CPDP conference, with whom we also enjoy a mutually supportive relationship. I was particularly interested to discover that the Centre looks at the notion of privacy through the lens of the history of law, theology, architecture, society and ideas.

The issue of privacy is at the heart of discussions at RAID, taking place on online for free on 4 May. Regulators and policymakers from Europe, the US and China will tackle a range of questions, such as the issue of encryption, and how to manage the tension between need for personal privacy with calls for law enforcers to access personal information that could protect society from harm.

How do you see the research in historical privacy concerning present-day privacy policy?

We live at a time of technological change on a scale and pace not seen for centuries. Whereas the previous industrial revolutions involved mechanisation, steel and electrification, the current revolution – often called Industry 4.0 – is a digital revolution.

This is why we launched RAID in 2017 (then standing for Robotics, AI, IoT and Data), as digitalisation was rapidly transforming established industry sectors. In 2021 we changed the acronym to Regulation of AI, Internet and Data, in recognition of the urgent need to regulate technology as it became the primary means through which societies and economies operate.

The impact of technology on personal, and organisational, privacy is a huge driver for this demand for increased regulation and legislation. By “historical privacy”, we might mean “predigital privacy” – in contrast to the digital era’s “present-day privacy”.

Everyone who has internet access today knows what it means to have an online identity, and some have never known a time when they had no online identity.

Even for Gen Xers like myself, it can be easy to forget what life was like before it started to be played out on the digital stage. Which is where, I think, a historical perspective can be extremely helpful. In this light, it becomes apparent that we have revealed parts of our inner life in a way that might have surprised our predigital selves.

I remember the time I became aware I had a digital identity. I was interviewed by the Independent newspaper in the UK about my experience of applying for university. This article was later published online, and the story of me not getting into Cambridge University was how I first appeared in this new digital world (thankfully I had a great time studying literature, philosophy and religion at Edinburgh!). I rang the Independent and asked for the article to be taken down, and that was the point at which I discovered that I had no “right to be forgotten”.

I think younger people today – digital natives in particular – are perhaps more savvy about what information they choose to put online, and have a better understanding of how what they react to creates their online identity. But there is still so much more to do to make people aware of how social media algorithms work, for example, and to create a process for meaningful consent. And children’s safety online is a huge concern that is leading to the creation of new laws and regulations around the world. 

What do you think the historical layer can add to your current industry discussion?

Our discussions at RAID open with a panel on Global Perspectives on Creating Balance in a Precarious World, and it is indeed a precarious world in which we live today. The emphasis here is on understanding the different approaches to tech regulation in Europe, the US and China – and also highlighting the commonalities.

RAID does not take sides. It is a platform equally for Europe, the US, China, for technology companies, big and small, and for our common humanity. While differences in socio-cultural and political norms exist and are reflected in regulatory frameworks, these differences are much smaller than the common ground that unites us – and the common challenges we face.

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there", as L. P. Hartley famously wrote. And just as it is important to have an open dialogue between different jurisdictions and cultures in the present, it is equally important that policymakers do not forget predigital values. We are all still human, after all.

As well as privacy, history can give interesting perspectives on attitudes to knowledge and truth. Throughout much of history, the source of knowledge was religious text. And then with coming of the enlightenment people were encouraged to, in the words of Immanuel Kant, “have the courage to use your own understanding”. And in today’s world, where do we turn to for knowledge – the internet, so let’s regulate it wisely.

Ben Avison is Editorial & Conference Director at Cavendish Group, the owner of RAID conference, taking place online on May 4. RAID is co-organised with the Fondation Prospective et Innovation. Speakers include Data Protection / European Commissioners, MEPs and other policymakers and regulators. For more information and to register for FREE visit https://www.raid.tech/2022-register 

We look very much forward to the collaboration.