In her topical and stimulating lecture, Prof. Wong expanded on her recent award-winning book We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age. As the “ghosts of our time,” data have become part of what it means to be human. Pointing out that in many day-to-day activities we are co-creators of our data shadows, Wong called on us to become data stakeholders rather than being mere data subjects. In taking a more active approach to data collection and processing, Wong insisted, the basic values underpinning human rights – dignity, liberty, equality, and community – inherited from the analog age can still provide guidance in digital times. However, respect for human rights is being challenged by Big Tech companies (Meta, Google, Amazon, etc.), not simply due to their immense wealth, but because they have come to govern us; a form of governance not working through laws, but rather through access rules and algorithms managing the collection and use of our data. Policymakers and citizens, in turn, are challenged to “govern the governors” in new and creative ways beyond corporate regulation that heed our human needs and foster our human capacities based on the enduring values on which our human rights are based.
