24th April our conference - "The Data Mass: Between micro targeting and macro mobilisation" at London.

With Cambridge Analytica's involvement with various elections, European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) transposition in the next month and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg latest hearing at the US Senate, it is clear that targeting is at the centre of cultural, economical and political practices that call for our attention. Online and offline targeting, if such a distinction applies at all, raise questions about ethics, digital rights, big data ecosystems, dark patterns, automation, privacy, internet governance and people's agency online. The New Political Communication Unit (PIR Department, Royal Holloway, University of London) is holding its annual conference to dig deeper into these issues and put them in a larger context of mass and micro targeting. The conference aims to understand what academics and digital rights NGO practitioners can tell us about the way different (political) actors use big data practices to influence people's behaviours and preferences. Importantly, we aim to understand how such practices affect the way people communicate with each other and with such actors and how these affect people's subjectivities, political participation and interaction with the community. We explore this across different domains of practice and with an eye to historical continuities and changes.

The Data Mass schedule:

10:30-12:00 - First panel chaired by Professor Ben O'Loughlin

Professor Claudia Aradau (King's College) - "Big Data's Will to Knowledge".

Margie Cheesman (Oxford Internet Institute) - "Anticipating Blockchain: Data, Power and Future".

Dr. Matthew Hall (Royal Holloway) - "Surveillance and dissent".

12:00-13:00 - Lunch break.

13:00-14:30 - Second panel chaired by Dr. Elinor Carmi.

Frederike Kaltheuner, Data Exploitation Programme Leader (Privacy International).

Joshua Franco, Technology and Human Rights Researcher (Amnesty International).

Alix Dunn, Executive and Co-Founder (The Engine Room).

Katja Bego, Data Scientists in Technology Futures and Exploration (Nesta).

14:30-15:00 - Coffee break.

15:00-16:30 - Round Table chaired by Professor Ben O'Loughlin.

Professor Claudia Aradau (King's College).

Frederike Katheuner (Privacy International).

Joshua Franco (Amnesty International).

Dr. Elinor Carmi (Royal Holloway).

Where: 11 Bedford Square, Room 003, London, WC1B  3RE.

When: 24th April 2018.

Follow the debate on the conference livetweeting: #DataMassConf