Algorithms Exposed. Investigating Automated Personalization and Filtering for Research and Activism
Proof of Concept Grant (ERC) for Stefania Milan and her DATACTIVE team 2018 | Personalization algorithms—filtering content on the basis of someone's profile—increasingly mediate the web experience of users.
By forging a specific reality for each individual, they silently shape customized 'information diets': in other words, they determine which news, opinions and rumors users are exposed to. Restricting users’ possibilities, they ultimately infringe on their agency. As exposed by the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, they are supported by questionable data sharing practices at the core of the business models of the social media industry.