The Surveillance State: Big Data as Big Brother
You are under surveillance whether you know it or not. Packaged to the public as tools for better living and safer communities, surveillance technologies actually rob us of our privacy and civil liberties, and threaten democracy. Cellphones, cameras, license plate readers and internet-connected devices like Fitbits track our every move.
Even doorbell cameras have an Orwellian taint to them, as they reinforce stereotypes about what constitutes a "suspicious" person. Companies and governments surveil people for profit and social control in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and homes.
On March 30, 2022, we heard from Prof. Nicole McConlogue, clinic director at West Virginia University College of Law; Aiha Nguyen, program director of Labor Futures at Data & Society Research Institute; and UBalt Law Prof. Michele Gilman, director of the Saul Ewing Advocacy Clinic, about why we should be wary of these surveillance technologies and how law can be reformed to resist the surveillance society.
UBalt Law Prof. Colin Starger, director of the Legal Data & Design Clinic, moderated the discussion.
Panelists
Nicole McConlogue
Clinic Director, West Virginia University College of Law
Aiha Nguyen
Program Director of Labor Futures, Data & Society Research Institute
Michele Gilman
UBalt Law Professor and Director of the Saul Ewing Civil Advocacy Clinic
Colin Starger
UBalt Law Professor and Director of the Legal Data & Design Clinic