The Digital Prism : Transparency and Managed Visibilities in a Datafied World

By bringing together discussions about transparency, surveillance and big data, Flyverbom illustrates how developments in digital technology have consequences for how people live, how organizations work and how societies and politics operate. The interdisciplinary scope will appeal to graduate students, researchers and policymakers alike.

We live in times of transparency. Digital technologies expose everything we do, like, and search for, and it is difficult to remain private and out of sight. Meanwhile, many people are concerned about the unchecked powers of tech giants and the hidden operations of big data, artificial intelligence and algorithms and call for more openness and insight. How do we - as individuals, companies and societies - deal with these technological and social transformations? Seen through the prism of digital technologies and data, our lives take new shapes and we are forced to manage our visibilities carefully. This book challenges common ways of thinking about transparency, and argues that the management of visibilities is a crucial, but overlooked force that influences how people live, how organizations work, and how societies and politics operate in a digital, datafied world.