A series of panel discussions titled ‘Data Societies’, organised by Economic and Political Weekly and the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, was held in Mumbai on 7 February 2020.
You can read more about the various panel discussions in the following reports on Firstpost by students of SMCS.
This panel featured the themes of digital desires, privacy, intimacy, agency, safety, selfhood, and performance cultures online.
The discussion on data economy tried to unpack the various ways to look at data, and, how the edge on data mining enjoyed by the FAANG companies (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) challenges our traditional understanding of markets and monopolies.
Can the State be trusted with information in times of ubiquitous surveillance systems? Amid the rise in global surveillance systems, the common man needs to be involved in conversations on data through politics.