OII London Lecture: Show Me Your Data and I’ll Tell You Who You Are

We know that Big Data and algorithms are increasingly used to assess and make decisions about us. Algorithms can infer our sexual orientation, political stances, and health status. They also decide what products or newsfeeds are shown as well as if we get hired or promoted, if we get a loan, we get insurance or if we are admitted to university. These data-driven decisions are shaping our identities, reputation and steer our path in life. But is it fair and just how we are assessed? This talk will explain why we need “a right to reasonable inferences” to retain control over how we are ‘seen’ in a Big Data world and to make sure that the data used to assess us is relevant, accurate and reflect who we really are.

Dr. Sandra Wachter is a lawyer and Research Fellow in data ethics, AI, robotics and Internet regulation/cyber-security at the Oxford Internet Institute. Sandra is also a Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute in London and a member of the Law Committee of the IEEE. She serves as a policy advisor for governments, companies, and NGO’s around the world on regulatory and ethical questions concerning emerging technologies. Her work has been featured in (among others) The Telegraph, Financial Times, The Sunday Times, The Economist, Science, BBC, The Guardian, Le Monde, New Scientist, and, WIRED. In 2018 she won the ‘O2RB Excellence in Impact Award’ and in 2017 the CognitionX ‘AI superhero Award’ for her contributions in AI governance.