Episode 26: Data of the Dead
With Dr. Elaine Kasket
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Spotify
Episode Description:
Beyond doomscrolling, mental health, & how tech impacts you NOW, do you know how your tech continues to profit off you even after you die?
If you haven’t heard of data fetishization, then you definitely haven’t heard about Big Tech’s misuse of data of the deceased, deepfakes, or dead labor... and how we as users can fight it. This week’s episode of Technically Spiritual is all about the data of the dead and how to reclaim your power.
Show Notes:
How our “digital self” gets constructed
How tech algorithms prey on users and reduce mindfulness (and in many ways, our contentment, happiness, and sense of purpose in life)
How Big Tech, which currently has all the power, gives us back bits and pieces of that power and choice and calls it empowerment of the user (or even philanthropy)
Ethical responsibility of tech companies versus the users
Carl Ohman - Oxford Institute Study on Big Tech data use of the deceased
How we can protect ourselves in the digital age
What tech safety and control actually means
The consequences of sharing information about your child online
“By the time a kid is five years old they’ve usually had an average of 1500 images of them posted by their parents. Over a third of all sonograms are shared online”
How to protect your attention and intention online
Tama Leva - Australian Researcher & Professor of Internet Studies
The fetishization of our personal data
The psychological impacts of interacting with people who are no longer in our lives (dead or otherwise, especially exes and lost relationships)
Kanye West Robert Kardashian hologram
Deepfakes & dead labor
Learn more about Kanye West and Dead Professors & more through Elaine’s podcast
What it means to leave a legacy...
Dr. Elaine Kasket bio:
Dr Elaine Kasket is a psychologist, writer, and keynote speaker. Elaine is the author of numerous academic book chapters and journal articles on death and the digital. In her book for the general reader - All the Ghosts in the Machine: The Digital Afterlife of Your Personal Data (2019) - she argues that what happens to our data when we die is the perfect lens for understanding the power of big technology companies. She is currently writing Exposed: A Life in Data (2022), an examination of technology and privacy across the life span.
She maintains a busy psychotherapy practice for individuals, couples, and clinical supervisees, and provides talks and workshops on death and the digital for organisations. She is a frequent podcast guest and the host of Still Spoken, a podcast exploring how the dead live in through us, our stories, and technology.
Stay in touch with Elaine:
Read more writing here
Twitter
www.elainekasket.com
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