FOR 5906 - TP 7: Capabilities and Limitations of Social Control through Data Science Systems

Basic data for this project

Description

With recent capabilities of data science (efficient big data analysis and machine learning), it has become technically possible to realize concepts of total social control. However, social control must operate selectively to fulfill its functions of symbolization, integration, and reproduction which are crucial for the cohesion of a modern society. It is argued that selective social control is functional as it symbolically reinforces compliance with norms, prevents widespread stigmatization, and preserves resources and individual autonomy. Our assumptions are that (i) social control that operates totally instead of selectively, cannot fulfill functions that are central to the formation and cohesion of a society. And that (ii) the legal system of even open societies, particularly in the face of serious threats to public safety, such as massive terrorist attacks, will step by step adapt to technical capabilities and allow for interventions in human and civil rights that will sooner or later enable total surveillance and control. In this subproject, the following investigations will be carried out in three work domains: 1. A systematic and continuously updated inventory of whether and to what extent, given the technical capabilities and limitations, total social control and surveillance based on data and AI systems has been or will be implemented in the selected areas of police work, video surveillance, and the use of commercial, professional, private, and social media data. 2. The acquisition of empirical findings on the (experimentally) varied acceptance of total social control and surveillance based on data and AI systems among the population (quantitative survey) as well as on respective perspectives among administrative, police, and political planners and decision-makers (qualitative expert interviews). 3. A legal analysis of whether and to what extent the German legal system has proven resilient since the 1970s to changes in criminal, police, and intelligence law that, by encroaching on civil liberties, have the potential to lead to more total social control.