In today's digital age, where technology has become an integral part of our lives, it is important to discuss the implications of Big Data, Social Scoring, and Biometric Surveillance on the privacy, visibility, and self-automated exposure of LGBT individuals. These technologies have created a new vocabulary that impacts how we view ourselves, our relationships, and our personal boundaries. This essay will explore the effects of these technologies on LGBT people and provide solutions for creating a safer and more equitable online environment.
Privacy, Visibility, and Self-Automated Exposure
The concept of privacy is essential to human existence, yet it is often breached in various ways, particularly through social media platforms. Privacy is the right to be free from unwanted intrusions into one's personal life and affairs, while visibility refers to being seen and acknowledged within public spaces. Self-automated exposure, on the other hand, involves the voluntary sharing of personal information online. Big data, social scoring, and biometric surveillance have significantly influenced how LGBT people experience privacy, visibility, and self-automated exposure in contemporary society.
Big Data and Social Scoring
Big data refers to massive amounts of structured or unstructured data collected by companies or organizations that can be analyzed to reveal patterns and insights about people's behavior. Companies like Facebook and Google collect user data through cookies, browsing history, location tracking, and advertising networks to create profiles of their users. These companies use this data to target ads based on users' interests and behaviors.
Such practices may lead to discrimination against sexual minorities as algorithms and artificial intelligence systems lack the nuances required to understand the complexities of gender identity and sexual orientation.
A transgender person may be mistakenly identified as male because they were assigned female at birth and vice versa, leading to incorrect marketing strategies and misrepresentation.
Biometric Surveillance
Biometric surveillance refers to the use of physical characteristics to identify individuals, including facial recognition, iris scanning, and fingerprint identification. While these technologies are designed to enhance security, they also threaten the privacy of LGBT people who may not fit into traditional gender categories.
Nonbinary individuals may face challenges with facial recognition technology if they do not match the binary gender markers used by software programs.
Transgender individuals may be subject to harassment and violence when attempting to access public spaces where biometric technology is used for entry.
LGBT People and Visibility
Visibility is crucial for LGBT individuals as it enables them to express themselves freely without fear of judgment or exclusion.
Big data, social scoring, and biometric surveillance have made it more challenging to maintain visibility while preserving one's personal boundaries. The constant collection of information about us can lead to targeted advertising that reinforces stereotypes about LGBT individuals, undermining their visibility. Self-automated exposure has also become a concern as individuals struggle to control how much information they share online. LGBT people may feel pressure to expose themselves in public spaces to gain acceptance or validation from others but risk violating their boundaries.
Big Data, Social Scoring, and Biometric Surveillance pose significant risks to LGBT people's privacy, visibility, and self-automated exposure. To mitigate these risks, companies must work towards creating inclusive algorithms that recognize sexual orientation and gender identity, while LGBT individuals should remain vigilant about sharing personal information online. Organizations should prioritize education on cybersecurity measures to protect against hacking and data breaches. By addressing these issues, we can create an equitable digital environment where all individuals, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, are free to express themselves safely and with confidence.
What new vocabularies of privacy, visibility and self‑automated exposure emerge for LGBT people in the age of big data, social scoring and biometric surveillance?
In the age of big data, social scoring, and biometric surveillance, LGBTQ+ individuals face unique challenges when it comes to their privacy, visibility, and self‑automated exposure. The increasing presence of these technologies means that more information is being collected about individuals than ever before, and this can pose a threat to their safety and security.