This session is facilitated by Jonathan McCully, Stacie Hoffmann
About this session
The session will begin with observations from experts who contributed to a workshop hosted by DFF and the Oxford Information Labs on “future-proofing our digital rights” in September 2018, at which experts from a range of backgrounds identified some ways in which we could help or avoid hindering our future selves in fighting upcoming threats to digital rights. This workshop was complemented by in depth research on the topic carried out by OXIL, and an expert essay series. A majority of this MozFest session, however, will be focused on opening up this conversation to those present in the room. The session will include an interactive workshop that will involve participants working in small groups to reflect on the observations shared by the discussants. These small groups will then map out additional future threats and challenges to digital rights, and ways in which we can prepare ourselves for them now.
Goals of this session
What does the future of ‘smart cities’ look like, and how do we prepare ourselves for the threats to our digital rights posed by these cities? What will the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) look like, how will it impact on our human rights, and can we push for safeguards now to better protect ourselves from the rise of new forms of AI? The goal of this session will be to map out some future threats or challenges that might pose a risk to our digital rights in five to ten years’ time, and discuss what actions digital rights activists and civil society might take today to prepare themselves for these threats. The session will also seek to start a discussion on what our ideal digital rights future looks like, and how we might proactively go about pursuing this ideal now.