Team Human

What happens when our past becomes indelibly fixed in the online databases that shape our digital identities? Is there ever escape from the internet’s permanent memory for our blemishes and increasingly public misfortunes? Sarah Lageson studies the serious social ramifications and new forms of “digital punishment” meted out by the growth of online crime data. On today’s episode she discusses this topic, the focus of her forthcoming book, Digital Punishment - Uses and Abuses of Criminal Records in the Big Data Age. Her work looks at the way bias and errors in the criminal justice system become embedded within these digital records and how this is exploited by private data brokers. Lageson and Rushkoff then turn to the very human question of how we should treat each other in a society where every mistake or brush with the law becomes glued to our digital identity. At the very least, it’s a future where we’re going to have to cut each other a little slack.Guest Bio:Sarah is an Assistant Professor at the Rut