Latonero speaks at AAAS conference on big data and human rights

On January 15 and 16, research director Mark Latonero spoke at the Science and Human Rights Coalition's "Big Data and Human Rights" conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Sessions explored how human rights can be affected by the collection and analysis of big data, the rapidly growing collections of information that can now be processed thanks to recent technological advances. "The application of big data in the human rights domain is still really in its infancy," said Latonero. "The positives and negatives are not always clear and often exist in tension……

USC Open Data LA initiative promotes public access to government data throughout Los Angeles County

Launched by USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) in partnership with the USC Price School of Public Policy, the USC Open Data LA initiative aims to promote transparency and civic engagement in Los Angeles, beginning with a survey to assess the state of publicly available city data in each of L.A. County's 88 cities. "Open data is a new aspect of journalism in the public interest," said Dana Chinn, CCLP faculty fellow and USC Annenberg project lead. "It's a worldwide movement, but we're going to focus on how open data initiatives can address the unique needs of……

Latonero joins Data & Society’s inaugural class of fellows

Research director Mark Latonero has been named to the inaugural class of fellows at the Data & Society Research Institute in New York. Launched this year and led by pioneering scholar danah boyd, Data & Society aims to "advance the public's understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by a networked society." By hosting events, developing policy frameworks, and creating projects and publicly available research backed by interdisciplinary collaborations, Data & Society addresses social, ethical, legal, and policy issues affected by data-driven technology. The Institute's fellows will work on "a bunch of thorny and interesting data and society issues," writes boyd…….

Latonero explains role of big data in fight against trafficking at NYU summit co-sponsored by White House

Research director Mark Latonero gave a presentation today at The Social, Cultural, & Ethical Dimensions of "Big Data", speaking about his research at CCLP on technology and human trafficking. Hosted by The Data & Society Research Institute in partnership with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and New York University's Information Law Institute, the event brought together leaders from government, academia, and industry as part of the Obama Administration's efforts to better understand the implications of big data for privacy and public policy. Latonero discussed how networked technologies like chat rooms, online classified ads, and social……

Mark Latonero at Social Computing Symposium

Research director Mark Latonero presented at Microsoft Research's 2014 Social Computing Symposium, speaking about CCLP's research on technology and trafficking. MIT Center for Civic Media director Ethan Zuckerman featured Latonero in his write-up on the symposium…….