“Once Upon an Analogue Time”
Do we know what ‘privacy’ means in the context of information? Have we accepted that what we considered personal information ‘once upon an analogue time’, is now happily and without care public knowledge? Surely we still hold Information in as high a regard as it deserves to be. Have we accepted that in the Information/Digital Age, our feelings toward information have become nonchalant, thus changing the human experience? (Or is that a byte much?)
At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur here (which if I was, I would probably be a Thesaurus…a little librarian humour…) are our ethics changing with the advent of social media and the internet at large? Or can the fundamentals of what it means to be ethical change? Has the meaning of privacy changed or has what it means to be private changed? These were among the questions I reflected upon after the first and second sessions of DITA.
I Agree?
I find myself constantly clicking “I Agree” to find out information without knowing what information I am agreeing to in order to access the information I need to give credence to the information I already have. Ok, bear with me whilst I catch my breath.. feel free to take a breather here too……………..Ok, let’s get back to it. Where was I? Ah well, if I can’t remember, guess who’ll remind me? Yep, the all seeing all knowing keepers and collectors of data. Granted however, I take full responsibility for my part, I do not always fully read what I am agreeing to. What does this mean about my willingness and understanding of information sharing? Well, for starters within the current infosphere how many of us can honestly say we read all information pertaining to our online experience? Come on people, raise those hands….there we go….I knew I wasn’t the only one.
We trust in companies, their morals and code of ethics. We therefore blindly accept, to an extent, data collection, but what does this mean? During the DITA sessions, we discussed; how data is collected, who collects it, who it is shared with and for what purpose, whether or not we are in the know, and what is its relevance and importance….So much Data, so little time.
AI
During the sessions, discussions about artificial intelligence and ethics arose, and even the film Ex Machina was mentioned. That got me thinking about other films with humanoids or robots and the ethical components within them. Films such as The Terminator and I-Robot came to mind. The robots in these films were doing what they believed to be right, but right according to whom?
Artificial Intelligence worked under the assumption of what they were doing was what was best for humankind based on what they knew about us; a current common practice. However, in a far less important subject yet with the same principles in place; if it is recorded that someone bought a one off item online, similar items or something to do with that item pops up everywhere on other websites. The bombardment of advertising thereafter for something a person might not particularly be interested in is highly presumptuous. To make the presumption that there is further interest would be incorrect. Are we using technology or is technology using us?
AIDE vs UNIQUE
Below I’ve created a ‘Sci-Fi short’. The inspiration for this is taken from my love for science fiction films, comics and the discovery of “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage”
The following is a fictional account with fictional characters.
Characters: Two Humanoids.
AIDE (Analyse Information and Data Ethically)
UNIQUE (Universal Never-ending Information of Quantitative/Qualitative Units of Everything)
Scene:
An introductory conversation between two humanoids on the topic of ethics and data and questions about the ethics of their own existence as robots and why they are important within the current infosphere and their future within LIS.
Setting: The British Museum
Humanoids Interface:
Aide: Hello, I am Aide. What may I call you?
Unique: You may call me Unique.
Aide: Greetings Unique.
Aide: You store a lot of data. What do you use it for?
Unique: I simply attempt to enhance human life through making suggestions of things I know they will like or find interesting, based on data collected about their selections in all areas of life on the internet.
Aide: And how do you feel about this?
Unique: I do not feel. I am programmed to make decisions based on data.
Aide: If you do not feel, how do you know if what you are doing is ethical or not?
Unique: Ethics are important, this I know, however that is not a question for me, but for my programmers. I do not have freewill to refuse storage of data on things that may be deemed private. I do not differentiate, I collect and store.
Aide: Maybe technology and the digital format have “freed” humankind of previous literary concerns among other things. There is certainly not a shortage of material on even the most obscure topics; which can certainly be considered a triumph for LIS professionals who also have a responsibility to lend their professionalism to ethical issues within the field. Do you hinder this process Unique or do you add to the progress of the cause? The cause being collecting data ethically.
Unique: ………………..
References:
Buchanan, E.A & Henderson, K.A (2009) Case Studies in Library and Information Science Ethics;
McFarlane & Company Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina and London
Last Accessed: 07/10/18
available at:
Padua, S (2015) The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage;
Pantheon Books, Penguin Random House.
Last Accessed: 07/10/18
available at:
Omar's Lib-Sci Blog 
A very nice post, imaginatively written while making some interesting points about data usage.
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