Lethal in small doses: environmental metaphors for privacy protection in the infosphere

Burkhard  Schafer; Callum Nash; Wendy  Moncur; Jo Briggs; Emma Nicol; Leif  Azzopardi

Lethal in small doses: environmental metaphors for privacy protection in the infosphere

Burkhard Schafer^*, Callum Nash, Wendy Moncur, Jo Briggs, Emma Nicol, Leif Azzopardi

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

Luciano Floridi coined the term infosphere to update the concept of the "ecosphere" for the information society. Just as with the ecosphere, the infosphere is a fragile environment where ruthless commercial practices can cause lasting economic degradation. Mining for data can in this sense be seen as harmful as mining for tin, and if "big data" is really the new oil, then we must be wary of ruthless data barons causing data spills.

The paper reports some of the findings and research of an EPSRC funded project on "cumulative revelations", the risks that are generated through seemingly small and individually innocuous disclosure of information, which nonetheless over time accumulates critical potential.

We explore how we can use ideas and concepts from environmental science and environmental law to think of better ways to create sustainable data infrastructures in the presence of such "de-minimis" risks that are ill catered for in traditional risk-based approaches to regulation

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 21 Apr 2022
Event	1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SCOTTISH LAW AND INNOVATION NETWORK - Stirling Highland Hotel, Stirling, United Kingdom Duration: 21 Apr 2022 → 22 Apr 2022 https://www.scotlin.org/post/1st-annual-conference-of-the-scottish-law-and-innovation-network-scotlin2022

Conference

Conference	1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SCOTTISH LAW AND INNOVATION NETWORK
Abbreviated title	SCOTLIN2022
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Stirling
Period	21/04/22 → 22/04/22
Internet address	https://www.scotlin.org/post/1st-annual-conference-of-the-scottish-law-and-innovation-network-scotlin2022

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Schafer, B., Nash, C., Moncur, W., Briggs, J., Nicol, E., & Azzopardi, L. (2022). Lethal in small doses: environmental metaphors for privacy protection in the infosphere. Paper presented at 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SCOTTISH LAW AND INNOVATION NETWORK , Stirling, United Kingdom. https://www.scotlin.org/post/1st-annual-conference-of-the-scottish-law-and-innovation-network-scotlin2022

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abstract = "Luciano Floridi coined the term infosphere to update the concept of the {"}ecosphere{"} for the information society. Just as with the ecosphere, the infosphere is a fragile environment where ruthless commercial practices can cause lasting economic degradation. Mining for data can in this sense be seen as harmful as mining for tin, and if {"}big data{"} is really the new oil, then we must be wary of ruthless data barons causing data spills.The paper reports some of the findings and research of an EPSRC funded project on {"}cumulative revelations{"}, the risks that are generated through seemingly small and individually innocuous disclosure of information, which nonetheless over time accumulates critical potential.We explore how we can use ideas and concepts from environmental science and environmental law to think of better ways to create sustainable data infrastructures in the presence of such {"}de-minimis{"} risks that are ill catered for in traditional risk-based approaches to regulation",

author = "Burkhard Schafer and Callum Nash and Wendy Moncur and Jo Briggs and Emma Nicol and Leif Azzopardi",

year = "2022",

month = apr,

day = "21",

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note = "1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SCOTTISH LAW AND INNOVATION NETWORK , SCOTLIN2022 ; Conference date: 21-04-2022 Through 22-04-2022",

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Schafer, B, Nash, C, Moncur, W, Briggs, J, Nicol, E & Azzopardi, L 2022, 'Lethal in small doses: environmental metaphors for privacy protection in the infosphere', Paper presented at 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SCOTTISH LAW AND INNOVATION NETWORK , Stirling, United Kingdom, 21/04/22 - 22/04/22. <https://www.scotlin.org/post/1st-annual-conference-of-the-scottish-law-and-innovation-network-scotlin2022>

TY - CONF

T1 - Lethal in small doses

T2 - 1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SCOTTISH LAW AND INNOVATION NETWORK

AU - Schafer, Burkhard

AU - Nash, Callum

AU - Moncur, Wendy

AU - Briggs, Jo

AU - Nicol, Emma

AU - Azzopardi, Leif

PY - 2022/4/21

Y1 - 2022/4/21

N2 - Luciano Floridi coined the term infosphere to update the concept of the "ecosphere" for the information society. Just as with the ecosphere, the infosphere is a fragile environment where ruthless commercial practices can cause lasting economic degradation. Mining for data can in this sense be seen as harmful as mining for tin, and if "big data" is really the new oil, then we must be wary of ruthless data barons causing data spills.The paper reports some of the findings and research of an EPSRC funded project on "cumulative revelations", the risks that are generated through seemingly small and individually innocuous disclosure of information, which nonetheless over time accumulates critical potential.We explore how we can use ideas and concepts from environmental science and environmental law to think of better ways to create sustainable data infrastructures in the presence of such "de-minimis" risks that are ill catered for in traditional risk-based approaches to regulation

AB - Luciano Floridi coined the term infosphere to update the concept of the "ecosphere" for the information society. Just as with the ecosphere, the infosphere is a fragile environment where ruthless commercial practices can cause lasting economic degradation. Mining for data can in this sense be seen as harmful as mining for tin, and if "big data" is really the new oil, then we must be wary of ruthless data barons causing data spills.The paper reports some of the findings and research of an EPSRC funded project on "cumulative revelations", the risks that are generated through seemingly small and individually innocuous disclosure of information, which nonetheless over time accumulates critical potential.We explore how we can use ideas and concepts from environmental science and environmental law to think of better ways to create sustainable data infrastructures in the presence of such "de-minimis" risks that are ill catered for in traditional risk-based approaches to regulation

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 21 April 2022 through 22 April 2022

ER -

Lethal in small doses: environmental metaphors for privacy protection in the infosphere

Abstract

Conference

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