Partial List of Possible Dual Uses of Big Data Cyber-Infrastructures

Big Data and AI are being used to improve security and the state of health, nature, and the world. 

But they can also be used for bad, as the following list demonstrates:


Mass surveillance

Profiling

Scoring

Citizen score

Targeting

Hacking

Cybercrime

Cyberwar

Information war

Hybrid war

Misinformation, also personalized

Disinformation, also personalized

Fake news, deep fakes

Behavioral manipulation

Manipulation of democratic elections

Personalized marketing

Neuromarketing

Censorship

Propaganda

PsyOps

Deception

Mind control

Brain hacking

Hate speech

Blackmailing

Cybermobbing, psychological abuse

Electronic harassment

Social engineering

Insider trading

Market manipulation

Neurocapitalism

Implanting dreams

Triggering accidents

Triggering crime (e.g. “footfall”)

A new kind of police state (“predictive policing”)

Internet of bodies

Potential of totalitarian control


Many of these applications would violate Data Protection Laws, the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights, or the Nuremberg Codex, i.e. they would be considered crimes against humanity.

The crucial questions are: Can such dual uses be prevented by suitable laws and governance frameworks? 

If yes, how would they have to look like?