Big data and democracy

Considering the morality of using big data in the political sphere, this book tackles subjects such as what is wrong with targeted advertising in political campaigns and are echo chambers really a matter of genuine concern? Also examined are the impact of data collection on questions of trust in society and the problem of opacity: as decision-making becomes increasingly automated so it will become harder to hold decision-makers accountable. The contributors consider potential solutions to these challenges and discuss whether an ethical compass is available or even feasible in an ever more digitized and monitored world. The editors bring together original research on the philosophy of big data and democracy from leading international authors, along with recent examples and case references (including the 2016 Brexit referendum, the Leveson inquiry and the Edward Snowden leaks), and combine them in one authoritative volume.

An introduction to big data and democracy / Kevin Macnish and Jai Galliott -- Big data, consequentialism and privacy / Kieron O'Hara -- Politics, big data and opacity respect / Carl Fox-- A pre-occupation with possession: the (non-)ownership of personal data / Kevin Macnish and Stephanie Gauttier -- Policing with Big Data: DNA matching vs. crime prediction / Tom Sorell -- Dark advertising and the Democratic process / Joe Saunders -- Twitter and electoral bias / Wulf Loh, Anne Suphan and Christopher Zirnig -- Gated communities of the digitized mind / Thorsten Brønholt -- The network and the demos: Big Data and the epistemic justifications of democracy / Dave Kinkead and David M. Douglas -- The technics of a gnostic world: an ontogeny of Big Data / John MacWillie -- Opacity, Big Date, artificial intelligence and machine learning in Democratic processes / Ramon Alvarado -- The Big Data paradox and its importance to strategy and military systems development / Tim McFarland, Jai Galliott and Massimiliano Cappuccio -- Beyond the concept of anonymity: What is really at stake? / Björn Lundgren -- Big Data analytics and the accessibility of public inquiries / Philip Garnett and Sarah M. Hu…