Privacy is Global – Voices from Africa and Latin America
Creative Storytelling for Data Protection Advocacy
“What if there was a mythical monster that sucked our biodata?” “What happens when an entire population’s personal data is stolen from a database?” “What if we could send messages back in time and warn women about the dangers of surveillance?” These questions emerged when fiction writers, activists, lawyers, audio producers, and illustrators explored how to get more people to think about data privacy as a basic human right.
The notion that data collection may endanger our security or that algorithms violate our rights is abstract to many internet users. But powerful actors have learned to exploit these data for corporate profits, with criminal intent, as well as for social and political control. This is no longer science fiction for pregnant women seeking an abortion in Brazil or in the United States post-Roe v. Wade – let alone for people in Ecuador, where personal data of 20 million were stolen in an epic data breach in 2019.
This series of speculative audio fictions in 2021 builds on a prior news analysis-driven podcast project in 2020. All episodes were released in partnership with Internews and their network of local digital rights organizations in Africa and Latin America: Internet Bolivia, Coding Rights, Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo, KICTANet, and Paradigm Initiative.
Are You Reading My Mind?
In Você Está Lendo Minha Mente? (Are You Reading My Mind?) Sofia enters a library in Rio de Janeiro looking for an Octavia Butler book but ends up finding a portal to interact with her future self. That is when she is told about a time in which thoughts can be transparent... This story co-written is by Joana Varon and Lucía Egaña Rojas and produced in partnership with Coding Rights.
Datachiri 2.0
We invite you to sonically enter 2043 La Paz, Bolivia. Sascha lives in a society where the government has largely dissolved, and people rely on devices provided for free by an organization called ‘the Congregation.’ There are rumors of the Datachiri, a mysterious entity that is able to hack the Congregation’s networks to feed on biodata. Sascha’s device no longer recognizes her and she goes on a quest to discover why she’s been disconnected. Datachiri 2.0 is a story written by Marianne Díaz Hernández based on the comic book written by Alejandro Barrientos and illustrated by Joaquin Cuevas in collaboration with Internet Bolivia.
Graciela is to Blame
La Culpa Es De Graciela (Graciela is to Blame) is a story written by Ecuadorian playwright Sebastián Bravo Montenegro and produced in partnership with Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo in Ecuador. This story follows Graciela on her first day working at a major financial institution as their social media strategist. Graciela learns the hard way how important it is that institutions have adequate safeguards for personal data and that the government enforces laws and regulations! The story is inspired by a true story, the 2019 data leak of almost every Ecuadorian citizen’s personal data.
Crime and Prejudice
Crime and Prejudice is a series of two radio dramas produced by Paradigm Initiative. The series follows the online controversy when the police arrive at Dr. Ewem’s door to arrest her based on information that could only have been obtained from the company Moontech. There is an uproar and backlash on Nigeria twitter. When #boycottmoontech starts to trend, we see how Moontech responds.
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