[ecrea] ICA Preconf on Data and Discrimination

   Data and Discrimination: Converting Critical Concerns into
   Productive Inquiry

A preconference at the 64th Annual Meeting of the International 
Communication Association <http://www.icahdq.org/conf/index.asp>
Thursday, May 22, 2014, 9:00-4:30
Seattle, Washington, Sheraton Seattle Hotel 
<http://www.icahdq.org/conf/2014/hotels.asp>
Organized by Seeta Peña Gangadharan 
<http://newamerica.net/people/seeta_gangadharan>, Open Technology 
Institute, New America Foundation

Call for Papers 
<http://oti.newamerica.net/events/2014/05/22/data-and-discrimination#callforpapers> 
| Submission 
<http://oti.newamerica.net/events/2014/05/22/data-and-discrimination#submission> 
| Registration 
<http://oti.newamerica.net/events/2014/05/22/data-and-discrimination#registration> 
| Schedule 
<http://oti.newamerica.net/events/2014/05/22/data-and-discrimination#schedule> 


Critics increasingly cite the pervasiveness of data collection by 
corporate and government actors as evidence of a growing problem that 
requires intervention and oversight. But what about the analysis of 
these data or other processes like data storage, transmission, and 
sharing? More importantly, in each of these contexts, what constitutes 
harm and who or what is likely affected?

In this preconference, scholars will explore the nature and consequences 
of discrimination that occurs when corporations and governments collect, 
store, transmit, share, and analyze information about consumers and 
citizens. Discrimination can be understood in technical terms, such as 
parameters of an algorithm that identify patterns in a data set, in 
political terms, such as when a lack of data collection on certain 
populations leads to policy choices and the distribution of resources, 
or social and economic terms, such as when analysis of consumers' 
digital behavior leads to targeted marketing of particular products.

This convening will present new ways to identify and differentiate forms 
of data-based discrimination and to convert critical concerns into 
productive inquiry. We aim to discuss historical, methodological, moral, 
and ethical issues that will inform a critical perspective on 
computational, algorithmic, and aggregative processes governing public 
and private decision making today.


     Call for Papers

We welcome scholarly contributions that address the following questions:

   * What is data-based discrimination? Who or what discriminates? Who
     is discriminated against? Why? Which stage---data collection,
     sharing, transmission, analysis---matters more to discriminatory
     process or outcomes?
   * Under what conditions do data distort, pervert, or harm more than
     help? For example, what is the relationship of open data
     initiatives to data-based discrimination?
   * How do we conceptualize error or noise in the age of big data
     analysis? Is data obfuscation, for example, a liberatory process?
     What are predigital examples of data-driven discrimination?
   * What mechanisms, regulatory or otherwise, can solve problems
     related to data-based discrimination?
   * When does exclusion from data collection processes and their
     analysis equate with social, economic, and political exclusion?


     Submission

We welcome extended abstracts of original works from scholars at all 
stages of their careers and across multiple disciplines. We also welcome 
submissions from practitioners. Please submit an extended abstract 
(approximately 750 words) in the form of a pdf to 
(ica2014 /at/ opentechinstitute.org) <mailto:(ica2014 /at/ opentechinstitute.org)>.


     Registration

Register for this preconference online <http://www.icahdq.org/conf/> 
beginning January 15, 2014, as part of your main ICA conference 
registration, or as a stand-alone item. The cost per person is $50. A 
limited number of fee scholarships for nationals based in a developing 
country will be available. If interested, please put "Scholarship" in 
the header of your extended abstract. Also, two spots are available for 
"Rapporteurs," which entails documenting the event in exchange for a fee 
waiver. Please indicate "Rapporteur" in the header of your submission. 
Preference for rapporteurs will be given to graduate students.


     Schedule

Deadline for proposals: January 31, 2014.
Confirmation of receipt: Week of February 3, 2014
Decision announced: February 21, 2014
Deadline for submission of completed papers: April 21, 2014
Preconference: May 22, 2014