The increasingly precise segmentation and targeting of commercial messages has been enabled in large part through the analysis of massive amounts of transaction-generated-information. Although some attention has been paid to the use of these privacy invasive strategies within the public sphere, the use of personal data with regard to the formation, implementation and evaluation of public policies at the local, national and regional levels has largely been ignored. After discussing threats of political profiling to the future of public participation in the democratic process, Oscar Gandy will explore some possibilities for managing the nature, extent and distribution of these and associated societal harms.

Oscar H Gandy Jr is a media scholar and Emeritus Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.

Louise Amoore (@AmooreLouise) researches and teaches in the areas of global geopolitics and security. She has particular interests in how contemporary forms of data, analytics and risk management are changing the techniques of border control and security. Louise has been awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2016-18) for work on the Ethics of Algorithm.

Seeta Peña Gangadharan is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.

The goal of LSE's Media Policy Project (@LSEmediapolicy) is to start conversations between policy makers, civil society actors, and media professionals about the latest media research.  

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEGandy

Slides

A copy of Oscar H Gandy Jr's powerpoint presentation is available to download. Download 'Surveillance and the Public Sphere: confronting a democratic dilemma' (pdf).

Podcast & Video

A podcast and video of this event is available to download from Surveillance and the Public Sphere: confronting a democratic dilemma

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.