Every year more and more public money is invested in surveillance technologies – everything from drones and video surveillance to data mining software for public administration. Recently, the Polish government announced a new programme of co-financing surveillance cameras in the schools.

Panoptykon Foundation co-signed the open letter to the European Commision, regarding the situation in Poland, in which we express our concern with the legislative changes in Poland, that began with undermining with the legitimacy of the Constitutional Tribunal, but went much further, affecting the full scope of fundamental rights of Polish citizens. Amnesty International, FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), Human Rights Watch, Open Society European Policy Institute, Reporters without Borders and other Polish and international NGOs were among the signees of the letters.

Does Facebook identify and manipulate your feelings? Is it able to recognize your personality type, habits, interests, political views, level of income? Does it use all the information in order to reach you with personalized ads or sponsored content? You bet!

Your online profile is not always built on facts. It is shaped by technology companies and advertisers who make key decisions based on their interpretation of seemingly benign data points: what movies you choose watch, the time of day you tweet, or how long you take to click on a cat video.

AI systems will soon determine our rights and freedoms, shape our economic situation and physical wellbeing, affect market behaviour and natural environment. With the hype for ‘problem-solving’ AI, claims for (more) accountability in this field are gaining urgency. Summary of the IGF 2020 session: Aiming for AI explainability: lessons from the field.