{"id":19519,"date":"2014-12-22T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2014-12-22T11:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/?p=19519"},"modified":"2014-12-21T12:14:03","modified_gmt":"2014-12-21T16:14:03","slug":"we-dont-have-data-we-are-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/2014\/12\/22\/we-dont-have-data-we-are-data\/","title":{"rendered":"We Don’t Have Data, We Are Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"the-interview\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Does anyone else feel like the terms \u2018cyber-attack\u2019 and \u2018cyber-terrorism\u2019 should always be accompanied by cold-war style red flashing lights? \u00a0Maybe I\u2019m just watching too much mainstream news. In any case, I argue below that the \u2018cyber\u2019 prefix is not only dated and dualist, but imprecise. I suggest \u2018data\u2019 as an alternative. This relies on the assumption that we don\u2019t have<\/em> data, we are <\/em>data; an attack on our data is therefore, an attack on us.<\/p>\n

Cyber-war, terrorism, attack, etc. has been a central topic of conversation among news outlets since North Korean hackers breached Sony\u2019s network and then threatened a physical attack in response to The Interview<\/a>, <\/em>a comedy about assassinating Kim Jong-Un[i]. Sony controversially responded by canceling the film\u2019s release. Of significance, U.S. intelligence showed that the physical threat was largely unsubstantiated. And yet, Sony pulled the film. The \u2018cyber\u2019 breach, it seems, was dangerous enough. This breach not only exposed information, but was a means by which an enemy gained access to data; a means by which an enemy infiltrated. This was powerful by the very fact that we don\u2019t have <\/em>data, but are <\/em>data.<\/p>\n

The data breach was not just symbolic, but held material consequences. It spoke, loudly declaring \u2018we have access to you.\u2019<\/p>\n

And indeed, they do have access to us. <\/em>\u00a0The hack was not only a breach of data, but a violation of the people who populate the Sony network, and a reminder to us\u2014all of us data-selves\u2014of our own vulnerability.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have data, we are <\/em>data.<\/p>\n

And because of this, we are\u00a0vulnerable. We leave pieces of our data\u2014pieces of our selves\u2014scattered about. We trade, sell, and give data away. \u00a0Data is the currency for participation in digitally mediated networks; data is required for involvement in the labor force; data is given, used, shared, and aggregated by those who care for and heal our bodies. We live in a mediated world, and cannot move through it without dropping our data as we go.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have data, we are <\/em>data.<\/p>\n

This is why threats of \u2018cyber-terrorism\u2019 and \u2018cyber-war,\u2019 are better named \u2018data-terrorism\u2019 and \u2018data-war.\u2019 The cyber prefix, relying on a dated spatial metaphor, carries with it assumptions of separation between the digital and the real. On the contrary, attacks on the digital are very real. Not just symbolically, and not even just in their consequences, data attacks are real as violations of persons, communities, and potentially nations.<\/p>\n

These are not attacks in \u2018cyberspace,\u2019 but attacks on networks. And networks are populated by people; networks are populated by us. These forms of aggression therefore threaten not only infrastructure, but populations. A data-breach is an act of unexpected, undesired, violative exposure. \u00a0A data-attack is not just an aggression, it is a violent aggression, and a clear means of access for those with nefarious intentions. It is a deeply personal tool of war. And it is a tool of war that works, a tool that makes sense, because we are <\/em>our data.<\/p>\n

Follow Jenny Davis on Twitter @Jenny_L_Davis<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[i] North Korea now declines involvement and proposes a joint investigation into the breach. The U.S. authorities maintain that North Korea is the responsible party, and are continuing as though this is the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does anyone else feel like the terms \u2018cyber-attack\u2019 and \u2018cyber-terrorism\u2019 should always be accompanied by cold-war style red flashing lights? \u00a0Maybe I\u2019m just watching too much mainstream news. In any case, I argue below that the \u2018cyber\u2019 prefix is not only dated and dualist, but imprecise. I suggest \u2018data\u2019 as an alternative. This relies on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1753,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9967],"tags":[9972,12078,33058,33057,36425,33060,33061,33059,33062,33063],"class_list":["post-19519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","tag-cyber","tag-cyber-attack","tag-cyber-terrorism","tag-cyber-war","tag-data","tag-data-attack","tag-data-terrorism","tag-data-war","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-the-interview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1753"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19519"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19527,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19519\/revisions\/19527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}