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Making sense of risk in an increasingly cyber‐physical world
Author(s) -
Lee Adam J.,
Farzan Rosta,
Kapadia Apu,
Ahmad Imtiaz
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
critical quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1467-8705
pISSN - 0011-1562
DOI - 10.1111/criq.12526
Subject(s) - library science , computer science
Every action carries with it some risk. For instance, driving carries risks related to personal health and wellbeing that may be realised in the event of an accident, investments have financial risks that depend on changing conditions in the markets, and personal and political viewpoints come with reputational risks that individuals must weigh. Our online lives are no different. Risks of identity theft through data breaches increase dramatically with the vast collection and sharing of personal information, online social networks and dating sites are conduits for cyberstalking or cyberbullying situations, and the persistence of self-published online data thought to be ephemeral can cause reputational harm long after information was posted. The changing nature of online media is forcing a shift in the way that we perceive and manage risks in both our analog and digital lives. As in all contexts, the risks that we face in our digital lives are intrinsically tied to uncertainties. This is particularly true in the era of big data. Even in situations where someone might be aware of the data that they are contributing to some system (e.g., posts on a social media site, clicks within a shopping marketplace), it is not always clear who has access to this information. The unintended audience problem associated with social media has been well documented in the popular press and research literature (e.g., see work by Wang et al. and Patil et al.). Here, individuals may post personal information or express strong or off-colour sentiments with the expectation that a small, well-defined audience only would consume them. However, the scale of sharing on these platforms – the average Facebook user has over 300 friends – means that information can easily flow to more distant social ties. This can have physical world implications, as when individuals lose their jobs for inappropriate posts gone viral. In addition to uncertainty surrounding the consumers of information, there can also be uncertainty surrounding how information is used in