Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

Research

Current projects

• Cyber Security Behaviours (CYBERSECURITY)

  Participants: Professor Bertrand Venard, Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

  Through empirical research, this project seeks to understand the determinants of individual cyber security behaviours of students in France and the UK.

Teaching

• Law and the Internet

  Introducing the challenges and limitations of conventional legal institutions on the Internet (especially those administered by the State) and reinterpreting these institutions in the context of the Internet.

• Frontiers of Social Data Science

  In this course, we take a look into the future, and focus on the emerging role of data by looking at specific contexts and issues.

Videos

• In Conversation with Viktor Mayer-Schönberger: Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data

  Recorded: 28 February 2018

  Duration: 00:17:30

  New York Times bestselling author, Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, discusses his new book “Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data”, a prediction for how data will revolutionize the market economy and make cash, banks, and big companies obsolete

• Big Data – The Book

  Recorded: 29 January 2013

  Duration: 00:03:00

  "Big Data" introduces you to the recent bestselling book by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier.

• “Delete” – The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age

  Recorded: 17 September 2010

  Duration: 01:02:41

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses the phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget. This lecture closed the Policy and Internet journal's conference: "Internet, Politics, Policy 2010".

• The Virtue of Forgetting

  Recorded: 18 September 2009

  Duration: 00:32:54

  Digital technology empowers us to find and share information as never before, but we do not always foresee the consequences of these new powers. Can the dangers of everlasting digital memory be avoided? Can we reintroduce our capacity to forget?

News

• Reinventing Privacy Principles for the Big Data Age – New Report

  6 December 2013

  Now is the time to augment and improve the Privacy Principles drawn up by the OECD over 30 years ago to ensure their relevance in the age of Big Data. A new report by Professor Mayer-Schönberger and colleagues signposts five priorities.

• Viktor Mayer-Schönberger Appointed Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

  13 May 2010

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is appointed Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), University of Oxford.

Events

• Internet Governance through a Normative Lens – A First Approximation

  4 February 2014

  In this lecture, Professor Mayer-Schönberger will focus on the normative dimension of Internet governance, not on how Internet governance is or functions, but how it ought to be.

• Book Launch: Big Data – A Revolution That Transforms How We Live, Work and Think

  15 May 2013

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier, co-authors of Big Data, explain why big data may be on par with the Internet (or perhaps even the printing press).

• The Rise and Fall of Information Empires and the Battle to Control the ‘Master Switch’

  17 March 2011

  Tim Wu speaks to John Lloyd and Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger about information technology history, sharing his unique insight into the next chapter of global communication as he launches his new book 'The Master Switch' in the UK.

• Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting

  14 March 2011

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger will discuss his recent book, 'Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age', which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, revealing why we must reintroduce our ability to forget.

• Undergraduate Lecture Series (H4): The Value of Forgetting

  7 February 2011

  What are the emerging threats to the security of networks and personal computers and how can they be addressed through social as well as technical initiatives? What role should law enforcement, government and business play in improving cybersecurity?

• Internet, Politics, Policy 2010: An Impact Assessment

  Thursday 16 - Friday 17 September 2010

  This conference will subject the relationship between the Internet, Politics and Policy to multi-disciplinary scrutiny. It organised along twin tracks, policy and politics.

Press

• This is why Silicon Valley giants are paying such low taxes in the UK

  12 October 2018 Wired

  
  

  Large technology companies are often accused of dodging their fair share of tax. But what they're doing is perfectly legal... for now

• Web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee faces an uphill battle to reinvent the internet

  1 October 2018 The Telegraph

  
  

  A plan led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee to give people more control of their data online may prove to be an impossible task, experts have warned.

• What Data Has Done to Capitalism

  7 June 2018 The New York Times

  
  

  After reading this new book by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge, “Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data,” I now have a name for what I’m looking for: a data-rich market.

• The rise of the information economy threatens traditional companies

  2 April 2018 Financial Times

  
  

  A ‘data tax’ on Google, Facebook and Amazon would stimulate real competition

• Here are the ‘sinister’ dangers that could arise from companies collecting our data

  6 March 2018 Business Insider

  
  

  Business Insider spoke to Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, professor of internet governance at the University of Oxford and co-author of “Reinventing Capitalism in the age of big data."

• If liberal democracies can resist the urge to micromanage the economy, big data could catalyze a new capitalism

  7 February 2018 Science Magazine

  
  

  In Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge argue that big data will transform our economies on a fundamental level.

• Are the Most Innovative Companies Just the Ones With the Most Data?

  7 February 2018 Harvard Business Review

  
  

  But if innovation is founded on data rather than human ideas, the firms that benefit are the ones that have access to the most data.

• The last things that will make us uniquely human

  9 March 2017 BBC Future

  
  

  In a few decades, AI will outstrip many of the abilities we believe make us special. This is a grand challenge for our age, argues researcher Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, and it may require an ‘irrational’ response.

• Europeans Remain Far from Sold on the Benefits of Big Data

  18 January 2016 Fortune Magazine

  
  

  A report for Vodafone showed scepticism about the benefits of big data. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger provided a guest commentary and is quoted in Fortune.

• Big Data’s value much larger than specific business questions

  15 January 2016 Data Informed

  
  

  Big data can help humanity understand the world better said Viktor Mayer-Schönberger in a speech to the Connect 2016 Mobile Internet conference in San Francisco.

• Behind the European Privacy Ruling That’s Confounding Silicon Valley

  9 October 2015 The New York Times

  
  

  In the wake of European Court of Justice ruling on the 'safe harbor' agreement relating to the transfer of personal data between Europe and the US, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on the meaning of data-protection.

• Landmark week for data privacy

  9 October 2015 Fortune

  
  

  In the week European Courts over-ruling the 'safe harbor' ruling on trans-Atlantic data sharing, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on data protection.

• Why we should let our digital data decay

  6 October 2015 South China Morning Post

  
  

  A long article on 'digital hoarding' refers to Viktor Mayer-Schönbeger's book Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age and quotes him extensively.

• We’ll see you, anon

  15 August 2015 The Economist

  
  

  Against a background of concern that online anonymity no longer fully ensures personal privacy, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger highlights one potential benefit of big data analysis.

• Tourism industry finds big potential in big data

  17 September 2014 CCTV

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger tells China Central TV about the exciting new prospects of personalised individualised agendas for travellers that Big Data will enable.

• Tying up the internet

  16 September 2014 Financial Times

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is quoted in an article about censorship and control of the internet. He says there never was a global commons of the internet and, in reality, vacuums of power on the internet have always existed.

• Google Can Now Delete Your Past – But How Much Should Be Erased?

  12 August 2014 Popular Science

  
  

  An article discussing the ruling of the ECJ requiring Google to take down some links refers to Viktor Mayer-Schönberger as the 'godfather of the right to be forgotten' and quotes his suggestions for dealing with outdated online content.

• Google launches ‘advisory council’ page on right to be forgotten

  11 July 2014 The Guardian

  
  

  Google launched a page dedicated to the ECJ ruling on the 'Right to be Forgotten' The Guardian article reports on Google's appointees to its Advisory Council which includes Luciano Floridi.

• Misery merchants

  5 July 2014 The Economist

  
  

  An article on the questions surrounding regulation of 'revenge porn' quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

• Natalie Haynes’s Brave New Algo-World

  1 July 2014 BBC Radio 4

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger talks about algorithms and big data on Natalie Haynes' radio show when she attempts to find an algorithm to determine the perfect joke.

• Warum der Cyber-Dialog doch nützlich war

  27 June 2014 Deutsche Welle

  
  

  A report on the US-German cyber-dialogue notes progress made and highlights the discussion of big-data quoting Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

• Throwback Thursday: Quit the netstalgia – we could all do with clearing our web history

  5 June 2014 The Independent

  
  

  In a reflection on the drawbacks of comprehensive digital recall, the writer quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger from 2011 saying that inability to forgets limits the ability to process the world.

• How far will European Union citizens’ ‘right to be forgotten’ extend?

  5 June 2014 The Economic Times

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is points out that the 'right to be forgotten' has existed in European Data laws since 1995 and does not automatically lead to a deletion of data.

• How far will EU citizens’ ‘right to be forgotten’ extend?

  5 June 2014 Reuters

  
  

  Viktor Mayer Schönberger points out that the 'right to be forgotten,' alreadya part of European data protection laws, will not not mean automatic removal of data on demand.

• Rein geht alles. Aber was kommt raus?

  24 May 2014 Zeit Online

  
  

  German language article in the wake of the ruling that Google may be required to remove information if a complaint is upheld, refers to and quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

• ‘Revenge porn’ victims receive boost from German court ruling

  22 May 2014 The Guardian

  
  

  A German court has ordered a man to delete intimate pictures of his ex-partner even without any intention to publish. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says this decision is not about a 'right to forget' but more the 'right for one's own image'.

• Why censoring search engines is a good idea

  20 May 2014 The Japan Times

  
  

  The Japan Times quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger who suggests that in a digital age a bit more forgetting would be a good thing.

• Google chief Eric Schmidt says ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling has got the balance ‘wrong’

  15 May 2014 The Independent

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger suggests that the recent EU ruling allowing citizens to request Google remove links to their name is only likely to result in a few dozen more removals than are already made for copyright reasons.

• Omission of search results is not a ‘right to be forgotten’ or the end of Google

  13 May 2014 Guardian

  
  

  The EU court ruling requiring Google to excise search results if complained about doesn't address the major challenge of digital remembering says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger. Total digital recall risks creating a society that can't forget and forgive.

• Web groups brace for flood of data requests

  13 May 2014 Financial Times

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger points out to the Financial Times that the recent ruling of the European Court of Justice did not grant carte-blanche powers to individuals to demand Google redact information about them.

• Newshour

  13 May 2014 BBC World Service

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says that the recent European Court of Justice ruling only re-confirms the rights already granted 20 years ago by the European Directive on Data Protection and Privacy (19.20 on clock)

• Boost the economy: give away your data

  1 May 2014 Wired.co.uk

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger raises the possibility that in the future a few large data holders could control the raw material that fuels and promotes innovation and growth. His suggestion is that government should make its data troves accessible.

• Brazil’s internet gets groundbreaking bill of rights

  25 April 2014 New Scientist

  
  

  Brazil's new internet bill of rights: Viktor Mayer-Schönberger strikes a note of cautious optimism.

• How big data will haunt you forever: your high school transcript

  11 March 2014 Quartz

  
  

  Quartz online news source prints an excerpt from 'Learning with Big Data: The Future of Education' by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier. The article highlights the hazards of permanently retained data.

• Big data: The critical ingredient

  10 March 2014 Al Jazeera

  
  

  Al Jazeera Opinion features an extract from Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book; 'Big Data, A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think.

• Natalie Haynes’ Brave New Algo-World

  8 January 2014 BBC R4

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is interviewed about the potential applications of the phenomenon of big data. Professor Mayer-Schönberger is the author of "Big Data: A revolution that will change how we live, work and think"

• Big data’ could create ‘dystopian future’ for students

  28 December 2013 Times Higher Education

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger expressed concerns to the THES that as more detailed 'big data' sets are available to colleges and universities, students will face a 'dystopian future' where their ability to choose their courses could be constrained.

• My book ‘Big Data’ represents benefits & possibilities in the future: Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

  18 October 2013 The Economic Times

  
  

  India's Economic Times interviewed Viktor Mayer-Schönberger in depth about his recent book on Big Data.

• Business Book of the Year 2013

  18 September 2013 Financial Times

  
  

  Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, the bestselling book by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier has been shortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year.

• Big Data: too much information

  16 June 2013 South China Morning Post

  
  

  Review of Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, and Kenneth Cukier, data editor of The Economist, which is described as ‘illuminating and very timely’.

• Business Book Review: Big Data

  15 June 2013 StarTribune

  
  

  Review of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier’s  book, ‘Big Data, a revolution that will transform how we live, work and think' calls it both illuminating and timely.

• The NSA’s Big Data Problem

  14 June 2013 Time Magazine

  
  

  As the extent of the NSA’s data-collecting exercise is revealed the question, according to Time Magazine, is how to use the data to help keep the country safe.  This is a Big Data challenge says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

• The importance of forgetting

  12 June 2013 Vancouver Observer

  
  

  Themes in Viktor Mayer-Schönberger’s book ‘Delete, the Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age’ are discussed in the context of how we address environmental problems. The writer suggests we have traded our innocence for the oppression of information.

• Yahoo, Google, Facebook and more face fight to salvage reputations over NSA leaks

  11 June 2013 The Guardian

  
  

  Big companies whose trade has been built on trust risk serious consequences as a result of the NSA leaks row. Viktor Mayer-Schöberger comments that once trust is violated it is very difficult to re-stablish.

• The dictatorship of data

  31 May 2013 MIT Technology Review

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier use the story of former Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara,  a man who believed Truth lay in data, to illustrate the dangers of  over-reliance on numbers in big data analysis.

• Internet steals the chance to forget our past failures

  12 May 2013 The Sydney Morning Herald

  
  

  The Sydney Morning Herald highlights Viktor Mayer-Schönberger’s work on forgetting in a digital age. lso refers to proposed EU legislation on the retention of data sometimes called  'the Right to be Forgotten'.

• Think Again: Big Data

  9 May 2013 Foreign Policy

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book is quoted in the introduction to an article challenging some of the claims for the power of Big Data.

• Do I have the Right to be Forgotten? (R)

  5 May 2013 BBC Radio 4

  
  

  Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authority on forgetting in a digital age, tells Radio 4 that if we don’t have the right to be forgotten, others might take control of online records of our digital past. (c 17.00 on clock)

• Erasing History

  28 April 2013 New York Times

  
  

  A US woman is taking a class action against media whose reports of her arrest appear online despite a local law which allowed her to expunge the official record. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on tricky questions of online data retention.

• What you’ll do next

  16 April 2013 The New York Times

  
  

  Op Ed column exploring the big data revolution and its relationship with human behaviour, featuring Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data.

• Paris Brown. Social media means your awful 17-year-old self is shackled to you forever

  8 April 2013 New Statesman

  
  

  Comment piece on the campaign against the teenage youth police commissioner whose offensive tweets have come back to haunt her, quoting Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

• Right to erasure protects people’s freedom to forget the past, says expert

  4 April 2013 The Guardian

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says the ability to forget our past, both on and offline, is an essential part of what makes us human.

• Big Data: An Interview with Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

  4 April 2013 The Council on Foreign Relations

  
  

  Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authors of the new book Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, published last month, answered several questions on big data, foreign policy, and China.

• Forget me not: campaigners fight for control of online data

  4 April 2013 The Guardian

  
  

  An exploration of the issues surrounding the 'right to be forgotten' quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger as saying that the "the beauty of the human brain is that we forget which enables us to think in the present."

• Why ‘Big Data’ is a Big Deal

  25 March 2013 The Wall Street Journal

  
  

  Article on Big Data draws on heavily on Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book: "Big Data: A Revolution that will transform how we live, work, and think".

• The promise and perils of a datafied world

  25 March 2013 New Scientist

  
  

  A review of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data, noting that the book answers the question of what exactly is Big Data.

• To Save Everything, Click Here, by Evgeny Morozov – review

  23 March 2013 The Guardian

  
  

  Review of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data notes that they laudably demolish some of the more ludicrous big-data fantasies.

• Big Brother, big data or creator culture?

  15 March 2013 The Guardian

  
  

  Article suggests that the writing of Cory Doctorow and other Science Fiction authors could help us shape future technology for liberation, not oppression, and refers to Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data.

• A second chance at life online

  12 March 2013 Mobiledia

  
  

  An article about retention of online information refers to Viktor Mayer-Schönberger view that a ‘self-destruct’ button in everything we create online is key.

• ‘Big Data’ authors banter with Who’s Who of Seattle-area tech leaders

  12 March 2013 Puget Sound Business Journal Online

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier talked to thought leaders in the data industry in Seattle before meeting the public in the Town Hall to talk about their bestseller,'Big Data: A revolution that will transform how we live, work and think'.

• When More Trumps Better

  11 March 2013 The Wall Street Journal

  
  

  Evgeny Morozov reviews Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data. He says that "no other book offers such an accessible and balanced tour of the many benefits and downsides of our continuing infatuation with data."

• Big Data

  10 March 2013 Austin American-Statesman/Kirukus Reviews

  
  

  Review of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data.

• Wonkbook: Is Washington suddenly working?

  8 March 2013 Washington Post

  
  

  Washington Post's morning policy news primer notes the Wall Street Journal report that quotes from Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data, on the financial bonanza of Big Data.

• The Financial Bonanza of Big Data

  7 March 2013 Wall Street Journal

  
  

  Vast troves of information are manipulated and monetized, yet companies have a hard time assigning value to it. The authors of Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think look at the implications of Big Data for business.

• Social Studies

  6 March 2013 The Globe and Mail

  
  

  The facts and arguments column in The Globe and Mail quotes the prediction in Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data that data-driven decisions are poised to augment or overrule human argument.

• ‘Big Data’ by Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier

  5 March 2013 The Boston Globe

  
  

  The Globe’s review of Big Data concludes that Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier offer up some sensible suggestions on how we can have the blessings of big data and our freedoms, too.

• What’s to be Done about Big Data?

  3 March 2013 Forbes

  
  

  In an interview with the authors of Big Data, Gil Press says that the book is an excellent introduction for a general audience to this hot topic of conversation and provides a launch pad for a much-needed conversation about Big Data.

• Beware the Call of Siren servers: Two views of the Internet data explosion give contrasting visions of the future

  3 March 2013 The Observer

  
  

  John Kampfner reviews Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Ken Cukier's book on Big Data, noting that the authors prefer to focus on the value of Big Data rather than the dangers.

• Do I have a Right to be Forgotten?

  7 January 2013 BBC Radio 4

  
  

  Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authority on forgetting in a digital age, tells Radio 4 that if we don’t have the right to be forgotten, others might take control of online records of our digital past. (c 17.00 on clock)

• Medienexperte Mayer-Schönberger: “Kein Urheber lebt in einem Vakuum

  5 December 2012 Der Standard

  
  

  In an interview about digital copyright, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says ‘no author lives in a vacuum’.  Current copyright regulation is outdated and unworkable, he warns, and without change, rules will be ignored and society will act as it sees fit. 

• Why we need to let our online memories go

  23 November 2012 Washington Post

  
  

  'We need to appreciate and preserve forgetting as a feature of humanity' says Viktor Mayer -Schönberger in an article in the Washington Post arguing that forgetting allows us to grow, learn and forgive – and enjoy rancour- free family events.

• Das ghadenlose Gedächtnis

  19 October 2012 Tages Anzeiger

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger’s ground breaking work on the right to forget is referred to in an article about the ‘unforgiving memory’ in the German language magazine Tages Anzeiger .

• Das Netz vergisst doch

  27 September 2012 Zeit Online

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's recommendation that the 'right to be forgotten' be incorporated in EU regulation is referred to in an article on Internet data retention and loss.

• Bettina Wulff v Google. Neutrale Suchergebnisse sind eine Fiktion

  14 September 2012 Die Zeit

  
  

  Germany’s former first lady is suing Google after searches for her name reinforced rumours about her private life. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is interviewed by Zeit online on why the concept of neutral search results is a fiction.

• Fur das Vergessen

  27 August 2012 Speigel

  
  

  Max Mosley is suing Google in an attempt to get intimate pictures of him, removed from the site.  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, authority on forgetting in a digital age was asked for an expert opinion. Filters can and should be installed he says.

• Class of 2020

  23 July 2012 BBC UK China

  
  

  A report on rising numbers of Asian graduates refers to the OII Geographies of the World's knowledge maps and quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger saying that the distinct geography of the information age will be about universities and innovation.

• End of empire for Western universities?

  11 July 2012 BBC News

  
  

  The BBC features an OII map demonstrating continuing Western cultural dominance in an article on the rapid increase in graduates from China and India. Victor Mayer-Schönberger discusses the knowledge imbalance.

• Data Protection for the Digital Age

  28 June 2012 Greens/European Free Alliance

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's ground-breaking work on forgetting and remembering in the digital age is informing policy-making at international level. His speech at the European Parliament hearing on data protection regulation is available on video.

• Why it’s good to forget

  21 April 2012 RFI

  
  

  Trevor Pinch of Cornell University and Mark Lane of RFI discuss the themes and implications of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's book Delete on the station's "Webwatch" feature. They agree they're glad some aspects of their own lives went unrecorded.

• Oxford launches free interactive course book

  26 March 2012 BBC News Education and Family

  
  

  The ability of the OII interactive iBook to reach a global audience challenges how academic knowledge should be shared says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger. It could mean universities having a bigger reach with learners outside the university than in it.

• ‘Black-hole’ resorts: Turn up, tune out, log off

  15 February 2012 The Independent

  
  

  "Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, is a big fan of black-hole resorts which he sees as increasingly important in escaping the "useless simplistic drivel" of much modern technological life."

• The Technologically Enhanced Memory: How will life change if we can’t forget anything?

  13 February 2012 Slate

  
  

  "Is the quest for profound memory enhancement an unalloyed blessing or Faustian bargain? Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, leans toward the latter (...)".

• Facebook’s bid to fund its ‘Social Mission’

  3 February 2012 Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

  
  

  Facebook is embarking on a social mission according to Mark Zuckerberg, bringing its users closer together and making the world more open and connected. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on possible futures for the company as its stock goes on sale.

• The Ethics of Fake Twitter Accounts

  1 February 2012 The Atlantic Wire

  
  

  The Atlantic magazine muses on the ethics of twitter impersonation in the light of online high-profile celebrity impersonation. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments that we're in a Foucauldian post-modern world where we can't tell truth from fakery.

• On Free Speech: Deletion and Denialism

  1 February 2012 Free Speech Debate

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger contributes to Free Speech Debate's monthly podcast talking about the virtues of forgetting. The Debate centres on ten draft principles for global free expression and is translated into 13 languages.

• Private data, public rules

  27 January 2012 The Economist

  
  

  The EU is proposing sweeping privacy regulation to standardise regulations across the Union including a right to remove online personal data. Attitudes in the USA and Europe differ, one reason being history. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is quoted.

• Relearning to forget

  27 January 2012 The Economist Babbage blog

  
  

  In the light of the proposed major reforms of EU data-protection the Economist's Babbage technology blog looks at the plans to give Europeans the 'right to be forgotten', quoting Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.

• New EU data protection rules talk tough

  25 January 2012 Deutsche Welle

  
  

  The EU is planning tougher data protection rules including the "right to forget". Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, who argued for similar measures in his book "Delete" says he's not surprised by the discussions surrounding the proposal.

• This column will change your life: the art of forgetting

  22 January 2012 Observer Magazine

  
  

  Oliver Burkman asks if 'with all the focus on improving memory, are we in danger of forgetting the art of forgetting'. He quotes Viktor Mayer-Schönberger who argues that society is getting worse at forgetting thanks to the web.

• Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone

  1 January 2012 New York Times

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is quoted by Nick Bilton (New York Times "Bits" Blog) in support of his view that there are good reasons to sometimes just enjoy a moment without the need to use technology to capture, record and share it.

• Rights and wronged: An American anti-piracy bill tries to stem the global theft of intellectual property

  26 November 2011 The Economist

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The latest of many recent attempts to defend property rights on the Internet, it aims to cut off Americans' access to foreign pirate websites by squeezing intermediaries.

• Identity and the internet: From pixels to persona

  21 November 2011 Financial Times

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger talks to the Financial Times about anonymity and the enforcement of 'real names' policies: "It's built on the false analogy that in the real world you only have one identity."

• The Power to Erase the Past

  11 November 2011 The Irish Times

  
  

  "I am more convinced than ever that forgetting is a needed solution" says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, as governments and companies take up the issues of digital remembering raised in his award winning book, Delete.

• Augenmaß im Umgang mit Hackern

  13 October 2011 Der Standard

  
  

  Interviewed with Anke Domscheidt, a German open-data evangelist, Professor Mayer-Schönberger said that whilst we must accept that hackers break laws, we must retain a sense of proportion, reacting with calmness rather than over-aggressive vigilance.

• Quadriga 09 über das Ende des Privaten Buchpräsentation am 6. Oktober 2011 im Palais Epstein

  6 October 2011 Austrian Press Association (APA)

  
  

  A summary of four books on privacy in the digital age presented in the Austrian Parliament at the invitation of the Speaker featured Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's book 'Delete'.

• Who should run the internet?: A plaything of powerful nations

  1 October 2011 The Economist

  
  

  The Economist looks at Internet governance in a report on the 2011 Internet Governance Forum, quoting Viktor Mayer-Schönberger who believes a "constitutional moment" is needed to stop Internet governance becoming the "plaything of powerful nations".

• Sock puppets, twitterjacking and the art of digital fakery

  29 September 2011 The Guardian

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses digital fakery, and our ability to tell the fake from the real: "The digital age is difficult. We're in a Foucauldian postmodern world where we can't tell the truth from fakery".

• Big Data: Where the geeks go

  23 September 2011 The Economist

  
  

  "The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) this week hosted a small, invitation-only roundtable called the Oxford Digital Data Dialogue (OD3). The topic also was the data deluge."

• Leader: Remember this – but not that

  1 September 2011 Times Higher Education

  
  

  The THE leader column discusses the privacy and legal conflicts in preserving information on the web, quoting both Eric Meyer's work on web archiving and the work of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger on the right to delete information.

• Why we must remember to delete – and forget – in the digital age

  30 June 2011 The Guardian

  
  

  "In an age when Google knows more about us than we can remember ourselves, forgetting is not a weakness but a valuable capacity allowing us to leave our pasts behind" says Victor Mayer-Schönberger, in an extensive interview in The Guardian.

• Digital Legacy: the fate of your online soul

  19 April 2011 New Scientist

  
  

  As the first generation to have created a digital record of our lives we are faced with the question of what of it will survive us? Viktor Mayer-Schönberger comments on remembering and forgetting.

• Swiss court rules against Google

  5 April 2011 Deutsche Welle

  
  

  "Time for Google to begin to rethink Street View" says Viktor Mayer-Schönberger. Germany's national online media reports on legal and privacy issues around Google's Street View as a Swiss court rules that Google must blur license plates and faces.

• German Developers release digital eraser software

  25 January 2011 Deutsche Welle

  
  

  New software released in Germany allows Internet users to choose an expiry date for online photos. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger welcomes the innovation but says success will depend on several factors. He asks if X-pire is trying to do too much.

• Facebook Changes its ‘Friend Finder’ over German privacy worries

  24 January 2011 Deutsche Welle

  
  

  German privacy concerns have led to Facebook giving users more control over the use of their private contacts. It's not clear if this only applies to Germany or if much will be changed by the new policy: Viktor Mayer-Shönberger is sceptical.

• Digitale Amnesie?

  14 January 2011 WDR 5 Politikum

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• “Ein digitaler Radiergummi ist nur ein Teil der Lösung”

  11 January 2011 Die Zeit

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Interview with Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

  10 January 2011 Deutschlandradio

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Speicherprobleme: Die digitale Demenz droht

  8 January 2011 ORF

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Der Speicherplatz ist viel zu billig

  5 January 2011 Frankfurter Allgemeine

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger's book, 'Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age' has now been published in German by Berlin University Press and is reviewed here by Frankfurter Algemeine.

• Ein Verfallsdatum für Dateien

  5 January 2011 Wirtschaftswoche

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Digitale Daten geraten außer Kontrolle

  5 January 2011 3Sat

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Das Netz wird euch frei machen

  28 December 2010 Neue Zürcher Zeitung

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Tausend kleine Flecken

  1 November 2010 brand eins

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Warum wir dringend das Vergessen ins digitale Zeitalter retten müssen

  1 November 2010 GEO Magazin

  
  

  Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses his book "Delete", which looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Das Netz muss das Vergessen lernen

  5 October 2010 Zeit Online

  
  

  Coverage of the German edition (BUP) of Viktor Mayer-Schönberger's book 'Delete', which looks at the phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget.

• Net neutrality comes back to haunt Google

  14 July 2010 Financial Times

  
  

  In an article on possible investigation into Google's search processes Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger is reported as saying that Google's dominance may be less assured than it seems.

Integrity Statement

I currently serve as a member of the German Digital Council and the AXA Data Protection and Ethics Panel.