Datafied Children: The Research
In November 2018, the UK Children’s Commissioner published a report warning that children are being datafied from birth. In the last few days we have seen a plurality of press articles talking about datafied children. But what does it really mean to talk about the datafication of children? What can we learn from the research on the topic? […]
Data and Citizenship California Tour!
I am delighted to share with you the news that Dr. Lina Dencik (Cardiff University, Data Justice Lab) and I will be on a California speaking tour on Data and Citizenship. “As more and more social activity and human behavior is being turned into data points that can be tracked, collected and analyzed, we need […]
Data Justice for Children
“I don’t understand, I feel so incompetent and frustrated. I have been reading it again and again but fail to understand it. It is clear that the company recognizes that children interact with the virtual assistants or can create their own profiles connected to the adults. Yet I can’t find an exhaustive description or explanation […]
Home Life Data and Children’s Privacy
AI virtual voice assistants, smart appliances, and security and monitoring technologies are entering our homes and re-defining our daily routines. Yet little attention is paid to the fact that once installed in our homes, these devices lead to children’s data becoming intertwined with adult profiles. The very newness of the home automation environments means we […]
Alexa do you Care?
J: My son wakes up and says “Alexa what time is it?” And she replies. He has conversations with her. So he goes and tell her very silly things like ‘you are such a goof’ or ‘”you are stupid” or “you are dumb” and things like that, and she replies “Well you are not so […]
The Data in our Faces
Over a month ago I was travelling through London Heathrow airport with my daughters. As soon as we reached security, an officer looked at our passports, asked P (4 years old) to look up and not to smile for the camera. After she dutifully obeyed, he took a small, black device and scanned the face […]
Don’t share Photos of my Child
On the 23rd of May I was interviewed by The Guardian for a feature piece on the practice of ‘sharenting’. I think the article does an excellent job in analysisng the risk associated with posting information of children online. Yet I question whether sharenting is really a useful term when we look at the impact of social media in family […]
A Parent’s Mobile Addiction?
I pick up the phone so many times in a day, and I look for things constantly” said Roger[1], the father of a five-year-old who I interviewed for the Child | Data | Citizen project. He paused, looked up and added “don’t ask me what I am looking for, because I don’t know”. When we […]
Child | Data | Citizen @UCLA
On the 3rd of May I delivered a Keynote at the fifth annual Research & Inquiry Conference at UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. The talk drew on the findings of the Child | Data | Citizen Project, and explored the multiple variety of data traces that are produced daily about children and […]
No Opting Out?
Everyday when parents join new services, download new apps, connect with others on social media or buy the latest home devices, they often sign off the terms and conditions that decide how their children’s data is used without reading them. What I am finding out when I talk to parents is that the reason why […]