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SUMMARY:Wearables and the Quantified Self: Transparency\, Big Data and Sol
 idarity - Murray Goulden (Nottingham)\; Svetlana Smirnova (LSE)
DTSTART:20170517T110000Z
DTEND:20170517T130000Z
UID:TALK72602@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Olivier Driessens
DESCRIPTION:Abstract Murray Goulden:\n\nThe Internet of Things\, alongside
  existing mobile digital technologies\, heralds a world in which pervasive
  sensing constantly captures data about us. Simultaneous with this technol
 ogy programme are moves by policymakers to shore up the digital economy th
 rough the legislating of new trust-building models of data management. The
 se moves seek to give individuals control and oversight of their personal 
 data. Within shared settings\, the consequences of these changes are the l
 arge-scale generation of interpersonal data generated by and acting on the
  group rather than individual. We consider how such systems create new for
 ms of observability and hence accountability among members of the home\, a
 nd draw on the work of Simmel and Goffman to explore how these demands are
  managed. Such management mitigates the more extreme possibilities for dom
 estic monitoring posited by these systems\, yet without careful design the
 re remains a considerable danger of unanticipated negative consequences.\n
 \nAbstract Svetlana Smirnova:\nDuring my presentation\, I hope to initiate
  a debate about three transparency-related issues in the context of self-t
 racking in everyday life. My presentation is based on ongoing fieldwork fo
 r a qualitative longitudinal study. The study has a three fold sequential 
 design: a narrative interview\, a reflexive diary\, and a semi-structured 
 interview based on the findings from the first two stages. The informants 
 for the study come from four different tracking backgrounds: casual users\
 , professional athletes\, medical professionals\, and individuals living w
 ith chronic health conditions. While the main aim of the study is to explo
 re how self-tracked data contributes to our sense of self as individuals a
 nd society\, the issues of transparency and associated issues of data risk
 s\, power\, and privacy are ever present in discussion and reflexive diari
 es of the participants. \nMy preliminary analysis indicated three transpar
 ency-related questions requiring theoretical attention. First question\, w
 ho defines what “healthy” is and how it is measured? This question ari
 ses from the tension between the claims for revolutionizing potential of s
 elf-tracked data and obscurity with which health recommendations are devis
 ed and health indicators measured. Second question\, how can the idea of t
 ransparency help us navigate the data dimension of our lives? This questio
 n addresses the tension of unseen risks that might not affect us immediate
 ly\, yet might be detrimental to our lives. In other words\, what do we kn
 ow/how deeply do we care about how our very personal data is collected\, s
 tored\, and used. Third question\, how can the notion of transparency help
  us balance risks and benefits of self-tracking practices in everyday life
 . This question is about how do we want to see data-related practices deve
 loping in the future. As one of my participants puts it\, it is about the 
 balance between the sales we want to see and big business profiling we wan
 t to avoid. During the presentation I will discuss some preliminary insigh
 ts in relation to these questions. In the duration of the discussion perio
 d I am hoping to gather theoretical perspective that might be useful in ma
 king sense of my initial empirical findings.\n\n
LOCATION: Room SG2\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambridge\, C
 B3 9DT
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