Upcoming Events: Should the US Adopt "The Right to be Forgotten?" (3/11); More Science Behind Shaping Behaviors in Online Games (3/13)

Intelligence² Debate: Should the US Adopt "The Right to be Forgotten?"

Wednesday, March 11, 6:45PM ET. This event will be webcast live.

Berkman Center Faculty Director Jonathan Zittrain and former Berkman fellow Andrew McLaughlin join public radio's Intelligence Squared US for a debate on the European Union's "Right to be Forgotten" rule, and whether it should be adopted in the US.

Additional panelists include: Paul Nemitz, Director of Fundamental Rights & Citizenship, DG Justice & Consumers, EU Commission, and Eric Posner, Professor of Law, University of Chicago.

Description: In 2014, the European Union’s Court of Justice determined that individuals have a right to be forgotten, “the right—under certain conditions—to ask search engines to remove links with personal information about them.” It is not absolute, but meant to be balanced against other fundamental rights, like freedom of expression. In a half year following the Court’s decision, Google received over 180,000 removal requests. Of those reviewed and processed, 40.5% were granted. Largely seen as a victory in Europe, in the U.S., the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative. Was this ruling a blow to free speech and public information, or a win for privacy and human dignity? more information on the Intelligence² website>

More Science Behind Shaping Behaviors in Online Games

Friday, March 13, 12:00pm ET, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Larsen 106. Co-sponsored by HarvardX, MIT Office of Digital Learning, HGSE TIE Program, and the Berkman Center.

From Jeffrey: When online communities first emerged on the internet, they developed without structure--there were no consequences so users “grew up” thinking that certain behaviors (such as being racist, homophobic or sexist) were an accepted norm online. As society spends more and more of their time online, we believe that the next evolution of online society is to give the online citizen the tools to build and shape their own community--to believe in users and players and their ability to do the right thing. To show the impact of this philosophy, we’ll start by using social network analysis to map out how player behavior (both positive and negative) spreads in League of Legends, an online game with over 67 million players a month. By combining the latest research techniques from social and cognitive psychology with machine learning and game design, you can reduce online negative behaviors by multiple factors, reset and re-create online cultural norms and create an online future that users and players can be proud of. Critically, these systems are all driven directly by feedback and contributions from the users and players of League of Legends.

Registration required. more information on our website>

America's Complicated Relationship with Civic Duty: Understanding Everyday Americans at the Core of Civic Innovation

Tuesday, March 24, 12:00pm ET, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor. This event will be webcast live.

This talk will explore the results of research conducted over the past year by the Google Civic Innovation team. The research includes a joint qualitative and quantitative study for understanding “Interested Bystanders,” or that portion of the population that is paying attention to the world around them, but not regularly voicing their opinions or taking action. As applied research, this work sought to 1) inform the design of civic-related products and services at Google and 2) be of actionable value across the civic technology community more broadly. In reporting what we learned, we also have attempted to share how we learned it, and offer a case study for the use of human-centered research to inform civic interventions.

Kate Krontiris is a researcher, strategist, and facilitator working to transform civic life in America. In pursuit of a society where more people assert greater ownership over the decisions that govern their lives, she uses ethnographic tools to design products, policies, and services that enable a more equitable democratic future. During her fellowship with the Berkman Center, Kate will explore two topics: 21st century girlhood, and Americans' awareness of their government's presence in their lives. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World

Wednesday, March 25, 6:00PM ET, Harvard Law School.

Join the Berkman Center for a special event celebrating the release of Bruce Schneier's new book, Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World.

About the book:

You are under surveillance right now.

Your cell phone provider tracks your location and knows who’s with you. Your online and in-store purchasing patterns are recorded, and reveal if you’re unemployed, sick, or pregnant. Your e-mails and texts expose your intimate and casual friends. Google knows what you’re thinking because it saves your private searches. Facebook can determine your sexual orientation without you ever mentioning it.

The powers that surveil us do more than simply store this information. Corporations use surveillance to manipulate not only the news articles and advertisements we each see, but also the prices we’re offered. Governments use surveillance to discriminate, censor, chill free speech, and put people in danger worldwide. And both sides share this information with each other or, even worse, lose it to cybercriminals in huge data breaches.

Much of this is voluntary: we cooperate with corporate surveillance because it promises us convenience, and we submit to government surveillance because it promises us protection. The result is a mass surveillance society of our own making. But have we given up more than we’ve gained? In Data and Goliath, security expert Bruce Schneier offers another path, one that values both security and privacy. He shows us exactly what we can do to reform our government surveillance programs and shake up surveillance-based business models, while also providing tips for you to protect your privacy every day. You’ll never look at your phone, your computer, your credit cards, or even your car in the same way again.

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a "security guru" by The Economist. He is the author of 12 books -- including Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Thrive -- as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. RSVP required. more information on our website>

Distributed and Digital Disaster Response

The citizen response to 2012's Hurricane Sandy was in many important ways more effective than the response from established disaster response institutions like FEMA. New York-based response efforts like Occupy Sandy leveraged existing community networks and digital tools to find missing people; provide food, shelter, and medical assistance; and offer a hub for volunteers and donors. In this talk Willow Brugh -- Berkman fellow and Professor of Practice at Brown University -- demonstrates examples ranging from Oklahoma to Tanzania where such distributed and digital disaster response have proved successful, and empowered citizens to respond in ways traditional institutions cannot. video/audio on our website>