Over concentration of data into a corporation, a government agency or amongst a few countries increases the risk of ‘data colonialism’ and ‘digital dictatorship’, said writer and historian Yuval Noah Harari.
According to Harari, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are the two big problems at national and global levels. The danger on the national level is that a few groups, corporations and even government can monopolise the immense power of data and AI to create an extremely unequal society, or “the worst totalitarian regime in the human history”.
“It is the first time in the human history that we have a possibility to follow everybody all the time, to get to know you better than you know yourself. This has been the dream of dictators and tyrants throughout history but then they were never able to do it because they didn’t have the technology. But now they also have the technology and we need to prevent the rise of these kind of digital dictatorship,” he said in a conversation with Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog at the Nasscom Technology & Leadership Forum 2022.
He added, “The other threat is at a global level where we will see a new kind of colonialism and imperialism – a kind of data colonialism. Earlier, it meant that one country like Britain will colonialise a country like India, by sending ships, soldiers and guns, and then economically exploit the colony by taking away raw materials. And then concentrate the manufacturing and sophisticated industry in the imperial centre and send back the finished goods to the colonies.
Now, there is a danger that this will repeat with data. In the 21st century, to conquer a country you don’t need to send the soldiers, you need to get their data. Imagine a situation in 10-20 years, when somebody in China or US has the personal records and data of every politician, judge, journalists and military officers – every conversation they had and jokes they told. It’s no longer an independent country, it’s a data colony.”
Economically, the danger is that the across the world most industries are dependent on harvested data. For instance, in the textile industry, they would gather data on customers’ likes, preferences and trends. So if a company can harvest this data around the world, it can monopolise the textile industry.
Explaining through his example, Harari said, “All of these sophisticated technologies like AI & ML are produced in a few countries and can be used to exploit the rest of the world. It’s a big challenge for countries all over the world – how to prevent both these dangers. Don’t concentrate too much data internally and create digital dictatorship. Also, don’t allow too much data to be concentrated outside to become data colony.”
Prevent over-concentration
Harari suggests that there needs to be a power balance top-down through proper surveillance of the individuals sharing data as well as the corporations gathering that data.
“Governments have the power to regulate AI to prevent the worst-case scenarios. There a few principles one can follow. One of them is when somebody is collecting my data, it should be used to help me and not to manipulate me. This should be the key principle whether it’s a corporation or government agency. Another key principle, never allow too much of data to be concentrated into one place. Over concentration of data is a high road to digital dictatorship.”
He added, “Additionally, when you increase surveillance of an individual, you must simultaneously increase surveillance of the government or the corporation. So, it’s not just top-down surveillance, it’s a balance on both ends.”