Increasingly, all industries are involved in what is known as "surveillance capitalism," a new iteration of our economic system in which business value is derived from the predictive insights gleaned from applying artificial intelligence (AI) to customer data and novel data sources. While this opens up potential new business models, it also has serious implications for the privacy and human rights of consumers. In this session, we will introduce the concept of surveillance capitalism and hear from companies in different industries about how they work to avoid causing harm when collecting and transferring customer data, carrying out targeted advertising, and building in insights powered by AI and IoT devices.
Additional speakers to be announced.
Senior Policy Analyst
Ranking Digital Rights
Nathalie Maréchal leads RDR’s policy engagement with stakeholders in government, civil society, and academia; coordinates the development of RDR’s policy positions; and publicly represents RDR with the media and at conferences around the world. She is the lead author of RDR’s “It’s the Business Model” report series (2020), which argues that tech companies’ failures to staunch the flow of problematic content and disinformation online are rooted in their surveillance-based business models, and that policy solutions should focus on privacy and corporate governance rather than content itself. In 2019, Maréchal led the expansion of the RDR Corporate Accountability Index’s methodology to address human rights risks associated with tech companies’ business models, specifically the role that targeted advertising and algorithmic systems play in shaping internet users’ online experiences.
Counsel, Business and Human Rights Program
Verizon
Sarah Altschuller is counsel in Verizon's Business & Human Rights Program. In this role, she supports Verizon's commitment to integrating attention to human rights impacts into its legal and business operations. She also seeks to identify and respond to technological trends that may create human rights risks. Prior to joining Verizon in 2018, Altschuller was counsel in Foley Hoag LLP's Corporate Social Responsibility Practice, where she advised corporate clients on how best to assess and address the human rights impacts of their operations. In 2017 and 2018, she was recognized by Chambers Global as among the top lawyers in the field of business and human rights.
Follow Sarah @saltschuller.
Principal, Responsible Technology
Omidyar Network
Sushant Kumar’s work is focused on building an equitable data economy. He leads Omidyar Network’s investments in the "new data economy." Activities include investing in research, advocacy, and communication campaigns across for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Kumar is a member of the WEF global future council on data and he writes about the data economy in his column Tech for Good in Mint.
Director, Susan Morgan Consulting
BSR Special Advisor (Moderator)
For over 15 years, Susan Morgan has worked at the intersection of technology and society. She is now an independent consultant focused on human rights, democracy and disinformation, and the use of data and artificial intelligence. Morgan has worked in the private sector, the not for profit sector, and in philanthropy. She was the first executive director of the Global Network Initiative.
I felt this conference was life changing. I am truly inspired and am plotting both career and personal changes to live up to the great lessons I learned. Both the sessions and the networking were vital.
