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Digital Planet: Paris Surveillance Lessons

Factual: Science & Nature

People gather on the Republic Square in Paris before the start of a Unity rally Marche Republicaine on January 11, 2015

13/01/2015

Paris Surveillance Lessons

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Paris Surveillance Lessons

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks what are the lessons about surveillance and tech?

Paris Surveillance Lessons; #ISurvivedEbola; MyCleanCity App; Ex_Machina

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris what lessons are we to draw about surveillance and tech?  The terrorists were known to the security services but this did not stop the attacks.  Is the central problem that there is so much information that can be gathered digitally that it becomes extremely difficult to discern what is useful?  Click is joined by the security expert, James Bamford, the author of several books on the NSA, and Jamie Bartlett, author of the Dark Net, to discuss the limits of digital surveillance.

#ISurvivedEbola
#ISurvivedEbola is a digital platform aimed at revealing the stories and personalities of those who have survived Ebola. The latest development sees the launch of a new app for survivors which will enable them to tell and share their stories.  Click talks to JD Stier of PCI Media Impact about the campaign.

MyCleanCity App
MyCleanCity is a new app just launched in Malaysia which aims to both clean up the streets and also to clean up and clear out government corruption.  The simple tool enables citizens to photograph for example illegal dumping and potholes, and to direct complaints to the officials responsible.  But as Jennifer Pak reports from Malaysia it has the bigger ambition to weed out corruption.

Ex_Machina
The Turing Test pits robots against humans who are required to ascertain whether they are in the presence of a sentient being.  But this test for Artificial Intelligence, A.I, is not full proof, and, as has been shown in the past, we humans who readily assign human characteristics to inanimate objects can be fooled.  A.I is at the heart of a new film, Ex_Machina.  Click talks to its director, Alex Garland, about falling in love with robots and the limits of Artificial Intelligence. 

(Photo: People gather on the Place de la Republique in Paris before the start of a Unity rally on January 11, 2015 in tribute to the 17 victims of a three-day killing spree by home-grown Islamists. Credit: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images)

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