When? 6.30pm – 8pm, Wednesday 8 November, 2017

Where? Bunyapa Park, cnr Thomas St and Vulture St, West End

What? Public panel discussion and community conversation

Details:
What is “big data”? Who is collecting it? And how are processes of data gathering impacting on our lives?

In this session, we’ll bring together academics and grassroots activists to talk data activism and digital rights. How can we imagine digital futures that aren’t “evil”? What is the relationship between technology and politics? What might it look like to nationalise social media? Is ethical tech possible? What kind of strategies already exist to reimagine digital technologies for the “common good”? And what are the supply chains that link our everyday digital products to ecological disaster in the global south?

SPEAKERS:
Angela Daly is a socio-legal academic researching the regulation of new technologies. She is also a digital rights activist, currently on the board of Digital Rights Watch Australia.

Amelia Hine is a researcher, writer and graphic designer. She investigates landscape planning for mega-projects like mine closures, and traces their unseen influences and alternatives. She is particularly interested in making visible the supply chains necessary to design, produce and manufacture our contemporary lives.

Caspian Bahramshahi is a community organiser and digital campaigner with the Queensland Conservation Council. They have a passion for decentralised grassroots social movements and the role #hashtag activism has in making that possible.

Liam Pomfret is a consumer privacy researcher and activist, looking into the social factors influencing privacy protection and sharing behaviours. He currently serves on the boards of both the Australian Privacy Foundation and Electronic Frontiers Australia, and has previously stood for Pirate Party Australia.

FORMAT:
We’ve invited this collection of excellent folks to participate in a panel discussion for the first 30 – 40 minutes. We’ll then open the conversation up for questions, discussion, collective strategising and a big old chat.

As usual, the event is completely free and open to everyone. A small amount of seating will be available, but please bring a chair or rug if you’re coming from home and want a more comfortable listening-and-talking experience.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we gather. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future. Sovereignty was never ceded.