The Problems and Perils of Uberveillance: Misinformation, Misinterpretation, and Information Manipulation

Uberveillance can be defined as an omnipresent electronic surveillance facilitated by technology that makes it possible to embed surveillance devices into the human body. Uberveillance has to do with:

• identity

• location

• condition

It is about the fundamental who, where, when questions in an attempt to derive why (motivation), what (result), and even how (method/plan/thought).

Uberveillance is about “ubiquitous or pervasive electronic surveillance that is not only ‘always on’ but ‘always with you,’ ultimately in the form of bodily invasive surveillance” (ALD, 2010). The term was coined by MG Michael in 2006 and entered the Macquarie Dictionary of Australia in 2008 as “an omnipresent electronic surveillance facilitated by technology that makes it possible to embed surveillance devices in the human body” (Macquarie, 2009, p. 1094). The concern over uberveillance is directly related to the misinformation, misinterpretation, and information manipulation of citizens' data. We can strive for omnipresence through real-time remote sharing and monitoring, but we will never achieve simple omniscience (Michael & Michael, 2009).

This presentation will cover emerging “last mile” technologies, the collection of data related to the body and mind, the application of this data by government and commerce, and the problems and perils related to artificial intelligence in the context of uberveillance.

Biography: Katina Michael is a professor at Arizona State University, holding a joint appointment in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and School of Computing, Informatics and Decisions Systems Engineering. She is also the director of the Society Policy Engineering Collective (SPEC) and the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society. Katina is a senior member of the IEEE and a Public Interest Technology advocate who studies the social implications of technology. Katina is the founding Program Chair of the new online MSc(Public Interest Technology) degree, a first of its kind in the world. She has held 13 annual workshops in the social implications of national security space and chaired 3 international symposia on technology and society (ISTAS) in Wollongong, Toronto and Phoenix. She is the Senior Editor of the socio-economic impact section in IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine and was the editor in chief of the award-winning IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. In 2019 she took on the role of working group chair for the IEEE P2089 standard. In 2020 she received the ICTO Golden Medal for lifetime achievement award for exceptional contributions to research in information systems, and the IEEE Phoenix section’s Outstanding Member Contributing to Global Humanitarian Projects Award for her contributions to a better understanding of the impact of emerging technologies on humanity. In 2017, she also received the Brian M. O'Connell Society on the Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) Distinguished Service Award. www.katinamichael.com

Thank you to: Deva Priyakumar, Rahul Panicker, Aditya Nayan, Vaibhav Mathur, and Kavita Vemuri of IIIT Hyderabad.

Overview: IIITH is organizing a technical event that delves into the challenges (fairness, accountability, ethics, privacy) posed by the ever-exploding data to commemorate the International Data Privacy day. We are thrilled to have your acceptance to be part of the event. As IHub-Data@IIITH embarks on putting together datasets in Smart Mobility, Healthcare & other domains, addressing these challenges are of very particular interest to the AI community at IIITH. I hereby invite you again you as a speaker at the event (6 – 8 PM IST, 28th January), organized as a virtual event and streamed on Youtube as well. Your talk is scheduled at 7:30 PM IST (7:00 AM MST). I will get back early next week with other details.

Citation: Katina Michael, 28 January 2021, “The Problems and Perils of Uberveillance: Misinformation, Misinterpretation, and Information Manipulation”, International Privacy Day, IHub-Data@IIITH, IIIT Hyderabad, 7.30PM IST, 7AM MST.