Joseph Savirimuthu

ANPR: Code and Rhetorics of Compliance

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems are gradually entering service in Canada’s western province of British Columbia and are prolifically deployed in the UK. In this paper, we compare and analyze some of the politics and practices underscoring the technology in these jurisdictions. Drawing from existing and emerging research we identify key actors and how authorities marginalize access to the systems’ operation. Such marginalization is accompanied by rhetorics of privacy and security that are used to justify novel mass surveillance practices. Authorities justify the public’s lack of access to ANPR practices and technical characteristics as a key to securing environments and making citizens ‘safe’. After analyzing incongruences between authorities’ conceptions of privacy and security, we articulate means of resisting intrusive surveillance practices by reshaping agendas surrounding ANPR.

Online Sexual Grooming of Children, Obscene Content and Peer Victimisation: Legal and Evidentiary Issues

As traditional methods for harming and abusing children become increasingly mediated through Web 2.0 technologies, a new dimension emerges for online child safety governance. Convergence has now made possible new avenues through which harms can be perpetrated against children. Difficult policy issues still have to be confronted as policymakers and regulators grapple with the dilemma of using the criminal law, in an environment where enforcement, rather than the application of its substantive rules, is proving to be a problem (Luuders et al., 2009). Additionally, the ramifications of an expanding child protection agenda for civil liberties and innovation are still uncertain (Lindsay et al., 2008). Policymakers and law enforcement are also having to deal with the issue of whether the criminal law should be used in cases where children become the offenders – sexual solicitation of other minors, hacking into social network profiles, posting hateful messages or defacing websites and distributing self-generated nude images of themselves. Is the criminal law outdated and unresponsive, or does living in a risk society require policymakers to reassess how we approach the strategies for extending legal standards and rules to an increasingly connected and “always-on” society? Indeed, it is a particularly relevant question to ask when reflecting on how the criminal law addresses these tensions either through direct State intervention or indirectly through the MSIG framework. These matters provide the background to the chapter, which is the legal and evidentiary issues emerging from the use of the criminal law in managing risks in three areas of online child safety governance: online sexual grooming, exposure to obscene content (with particular emphasis on child pornography) and peer victimisation. I integrate into the analysis an account of the key substantive criminal law rules to highlight its role and shortcomings when addressing the regulatory challenges in this area of child protection policymaking. Finally, some caveats may be necessary with regard to the discussion that follows. This chapter does not rehearse or critique the reports or scholarly works undertaken by researchers in this field (Akdeniz, 2008; Shariff, 2009; Brenner, 2010; Kerr, 2009). Neither does this chapter review the role of criminal law in virtual worlds (Lastowka, 2010). Even though these and other works provide some useful insights on the challenges posed by Web 2.0 technologies to the criminal law, the task undertaken in this chapter is deliberately narrowed to a consideration of three specific forms of online child safety incidents/risk-prone activities. The aim of the discussion is to reflect the nuances of online child safety governance with regard to the standards and principles the criminal law aims to uphold and, more specifically, examine the extent to which Web 2.0 technologies can be said to undermine its ability to promote certainty, order, trust and confidence. The governance challenge for law and its ability to secure compliance with its standards and principles lies at the core of the evolving MSIG framework aimed at confronting parental anxieties resulting from the vulnerabilities children face in an environment of de-centralised networks and information flows. Secondly, the coverage of these areas will be conducted against the background of the national legal system in England and Wales. Where appropriate, references will be made to relevant legislation, case law and materials from Australia, the United States and Canada, noting that some caution should be exercised when making comparisons between the approaches in these jurisdictions, given that governments ground their legal and policy responses on their “legal traditions, approaches, techniques (e.g. direct regulation vs. self- or co-regulation), and law enforcement practices” (Gasser, et al., 2010: 10). The differences in legal traditions and policy responses do not detract from the tasks undertaken in this chapter. The implications of these rules for evidentiary investigations and online intermediary liability will also be identified and explained.

Notes from the frontier of the Sensor City

As you walk out of Lime Street Station in Liverpool, you are immediately reminded of the city’s mercantile past with its Grade I and II listed buildings now juxtaposed with new urban developments. If you walk up Copperas Hill, you will notice at the junction of Russell Street a building that is more in keeping with modern urban architecture and design than some of the late Georgian buildings and Victorian terrace houses. One feature that will strike passers-by is the building’s unusual looking exterior of circuit boards. You are looking at a £15 m technology hub known as ‘The Sensor City’. The Sensor City, which is the moniker of the joint venture project between the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, is set to provide the gateway to a smart city comprising a consortium made up of public sector health suppliers, the NHS, university researchers, local SMEs and a leading UK 5G technology vendor. The ambitious vision of the future underlines a not dissimilar resurgence in national and international interest in creating dynamic urban spaces by leveraging the opportunities presented by ubiquitous computing, cheap and inexpensive cloud storage and sensors. Private and public sector interest in utilising data-driven management to deliver services and promote civic engagement is a common feature of policy developments in Liverpool and other major cities in the UK. There is no doubt that as we see more urban spaces being transformed by technological infrastructures profound questions about the vision and the instrumental goals pursued by data-driven processes will become a major focus of ‘local’ policymaking. The four articles chosen for the first of the two-part Special Issue paves the way for an assessment of some of the opportunities and challenges facing urban infrastructures layered with software analytics, sensors and data-driven processes. Specifically, the four articles emphasise two aspects of the transformation being ushered in by emerging technologies: one is structural and the other the evolution of norms governing mediated urban spaces. Structurally, urban technological infrastructures introduce new processes for participation, decision making and delivery of services. Infrastructures also raise questions about norms relating to transparency, accountability and legitimacy, central to embedding democratic values in civic spaces. In Contesting the decision: living in (and living with) the smart city, Martin Jewell maps the landscape which has been the focal point of legal scholarship. The transition from analogue to mediated space, he suggests, is not a panacea. He investigates the significance of unresolved conflicts and tensions and argues that mediated infrastructures merely shift the opportunities and contradictions to a new context framed by algorithmic and data-driven processes. His thesis is compelling: a ‘place-sensitive’ approach is necessary to ensure that conceptual debates are grounded and confront some of the challenges faced by people. His concerns are consistent with questions raised by the socio-technical imaginaries of urban spaces being constructed by the grammar of algorithmic processes. The ‘smart’ urban space, he argues, must not create barriers or hurdles in contesting machine decision-making provided for in Article 22(3) of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016. The call for caution is not merely a response to the structural transformation of urban spaces but a desire to ensure that democratic commitments are preserved and respected. The multiauthored article, Right engineering? The redesign of privacy and personal data protection best

Editorial for special issue Justice in Algorithmic Robes

The role and impact of algorithms has attracted considerable interest in the media. Its impact is already being reflected in adjustments made in a number of sectors – entertainment, travel, transport, cities and financial services. From an innovation point of view, algorithms enable new knowledge to be created and identify solutions to problems. The emergence of smart sensing technologies, 3D printing, automated systems and robotics is seamlessly being interwoven into discourses such as ‘the collaborative economy’, ‘governance by platforms’ and ‘empowerment’. Innovations such as body worn cameras, fitness trackers, 3D printing, smart meters, robotics and Big Data hold out the promise of a new algorithmic future. However, the shift in focus from natural and scarce resources towards information also makes individuals the objects and the mediated construction of access and knowledge infrastructures now provide the conditions for harnessing value from data. The increasing role of algorithms in environments mediated by technology also coincide with growing inter-disciplinary scholarship voicing concerns about the vulnerability of the values we associate with fundamental freedoms and how these are being algorithmically reconfigured or dismantled in a systematic manner. The themed issue, Justice in Algorithmic Robes, is intended to initiate a dialogue on both the challenges and opportunities as digitalization ushers in a period of transformation that has no immediate parallels in terms of scale, speed and reach. The articles provide different perspectives to the transformation taking place in the digital environment. The contributors offer an inter-disciplinary view of how the digital economy is being invigorated and evaluate the regulatory responses – in particular, how these transformations interact with law. The different spheres covered in Justice in Algorithmic Robes – the relations between the State and individuals, autonomous technology, designing human–computer interactions, infrastructures of trust, accountability in the age of Big Data, and health and wearables – not only reveal the problem of defining spheres of economic, political and social activity, but also highlight how these contexts evolve into structures for dominance, power and control. Re-imagining the role of law does not mean that technology is the problem but the central idea from the contributions is that how we critically interpret and construct Justice in Algorithmic Robes is probably the first step we must take, always mindful of the fact that law may actually reinforce power structures.

Do algorithms dream of ‘data’ without bodies?

ABSTRACT The question whether algorithms dream of ‘data’ without bodies is asked with the intention of highlighting the material conditions created by wearables for fitness and health, reveal the underlying assumptions of the platform economy regarding individuals’ autonomy, identities and preferences and reflect on the justifications for intervention under the General Data Protection Regulation. The article begins by highlighting key features of platform infrastructures and wearables in the health and fitness landscape, explains the implications of algorithms automating, what can be described as ‘rituals of public and private life’ in the health and fitness domain, and proceeds to consider the strains they place on data protection law. It will be argued that technological innovation and data protection rules played a part in setting the conditions for the mediated construction of meaning from bodies of information in the platform economy.

Online Child Safety, Civil Society and the Private Sector: Alternative Strategies

Whilst governments have an undoubted role to play in shaping child protection policy, increasingly, it is in the outcome of the interactions between governments, NGOs, voluntary organisations and industry where the tangible results of the policymaking debates and collaborations will emerge in homes, schools and communities (Dutton et al., 2007). The question of how civil society, the private sector and the State respond to the transnational character of the threats facing children is a complex and challenging one (Giddens, 1990). It is not possible to do justice to the many issues raised by this question, nor is it possible to undertake a detailed examination of the role of NGOs and the industry in enhancing the safety of children at the domestic and regional level. That said, the neglect of these interactions in current online child safety policymaking justifies, at the very least, an attempt made to describe their significance for MSIG (Falk, 1995; Grugel, 2003). Indeed, the increasing role of civil society in this area of child protection has contributed to the creation of a new climate for children’s rights advocacy and development of collaborative transnational networks. To this end, the work of the UN and its related organisations, and the engagement of stakeholders in the three World Congresses and the SIP, demonstrates an important paradigm shift in the way transnational actors and civil society appear to assume responsibility for policing the online environment and enforcing child safety norms through the adoption of extra-legal strategies (ECPAT, 2009). Consequently, to understand online child safety governance, we cannot limit our focus to the efforts of law enforcement or legislation enacted by States. It is only by understanding the contributions made by non-State actors that we can gain some useful insights into the pivotal role of the MSIG strategy in enabling States to fulfil their national and international commitments towards children. Two questions will provide the focal point for this chapter. There is a particular need for everyone concerned in online child safety to have some understanding as to why NGOs, voluntary organisations and the private sector have increasingly become key actors in the online safety regulatory landscape. The second question relates to identifying the processes which enable children’s rights principles and legal standards to become an integral part of the evolving MSIG framework. The chapter will begin with a brief account of the relationship between modernity, civil society and the State in relation to the protection of children from online sexual exploitation and abuse. It then integrates some of the insights offered by commentators like Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens, first introduced in Chapter 2, into the activities of some of the key international, regional and national organisations and explains their significance for the emerging MSIG model for safeguarding children in the online environment (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1991). The final part of the discussion considers some of the self- and co-regulatory models of good governance being used to enhance the safety of children in the online environment. The chapter concludes with the observation that the MSIG model represents an apt example of reflexive modernisation (Ayres et al., 1992). How we measure the effectiveness of this model will be an ongoing area of tension in online child safety policymaking (Eurochild, 2011).

Regulating Risks and Web 2.0 Technologies: Convergence, Technology and Social Policy

What do news stories of criminal prosecution of individuals involved in on-line paedophile rings, obligations on social networking services providers to address parental anxieties surrounding sexual predatory behaviour on network publics and the Summit on Bullying hosted by the White House have in common? A number of possible answers can be given to this question. One answer may be that it reflects our consciousness about the disorientating features of technology (Ohler, 2010: 77–90). The misuse of technologies taps into our

Concluding Thoughts: The Tethered Child

Safeguarding children in the online environment opens up a new dimension for governance – network publics and the affordances of Web 2.0 technologies expose children to potential vulnerabilities. The need for a coherent and principled response from all stakeholders in enhancing children’s safety in the online environment received its most high-profile advocate – President Barack Obama. The Summit at the White House reiterates an important aspect of online child safety governance – we need to continue to develop MSIG strategies which enhance the safety of children since the limitations on national legal systems are manifest (White House, 2011; Chamberlain et al., 2010). If we accept the premise that the law is unable to provide a perfect resolution to the threats facing children in an increasingly networked society, one rational strategy would be to focus our governance efforts in coordinating the activities of all stakeholders in society and ensure their compliance with established rules and principles. In this closing chapter I wish to bring together some key issues and themes highlighted in the book.

Online Child Safety: International Cooperation and Policymaking

Safeguarding children from sexual harm and abuse is a global phenomenon. The MSIG framework consists of an expanding regulatory landscape of laws, treaties and conventions and involves a range of stakeholders and interests. The globalisation of risks, including those relating to the CSEC, has also resulted in harmonisation efforts and cooperation at national, regional and international levels (OECD, 2009). The UN and its institutions, the EU and the Council of Europe now provide important platforms for mobilising online child safety governance strategies and policymaking. The aim of this chapter is to reflect on some of the significant institutional governance responses to combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. It is not the intention to undertake a comprehensive analysis of these responses but, rather, the focus will be on the contributions these institutions make in defining the standards and principles which provide the benchmark for the MSIG policymaking activity (ITU, 2008b). The chapter has three parts. The first part describes the policymaking role of the UN within the framework provided by the UNCRC and highlights some of the principal regulatory and policy developments which continue to inform the way governments and stakeholders now approach online sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The second part considers the important role of the EU, with particular reference to the SIP. The final part describes the significance of the increasing contributions by the Council of Europe in this area of policymaking.

Transborder Challenges to Enforcing Online Child Safety Laws

Cyberspace creates the impression of a space where multiple sovereign nations can assume jurisdiction whilst at the same time States find themselves struggling to enforce their criminal laws beyond their national boundaries (Perrit, 1996). The ease with which the Internet now enables individuals to procure children to engage in sexual activity, the difficulties in detecting and investigating online sexual exploitation, the lack of harmonised laws and the varying degrees of skill and expertise of law enforcement units exacerbate the feeling that this borderless and decentralised environment is incapable of being governed. Edwards laments the difficulties in assessing the effectiveness of national laws in disrupting the creation and distribution of illegal content and asserts somewhat inaccurately that “being seen to be ‘doing something’ about child pornography on the Internet remains a political imperative for most governments” (Edwards, 2010: 630). It is important, however, not to overstate the impact of the Internet on the applicability of existing jurisdictional principles and rules. Although there is increased potential for using the Internet and communication technologies to engage in the commercial and sexual exploitation of children across geographical boundaries, this chapter argues that the online environment does not introduce any additional jurisdictional challenges that had not been encountered previously. Before we can identify the nature of the jurisdiction challenges facing policymakers and law enforcement and their significance for child protection, an account will be provided of the basic principles governing the ability of States and its courts to assume jurisdiction over criminal acts, which have extra-territorial dimensions. An explanation will be provided of the rules that govern the decision by a State to either assert or decline jurisdiction over criminal acts both within its national boundaries and beyond. In the second part, the chapter will look at some of the principal legal instruments enacted by governments to deal with the extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction issues. Finally, an assessment will be made as to whether the online environment raises any significant governance challenges that require additional or novel regulatory approaches to resolving transborder criminal activities relating to the commercial and sexual exploitation of children. One conclusion reached is that many countries now take the view that online child safety governance requires a global response. The efforts made in reducing the jurisdictional and investigatory barriers suggest that international treaty instruments and informal cooperation measures may serve as an appropriate regulatory response to the transborder dimensions of online child sexual exploitation activity.