Glokale Suche
Suchtechnologie an der Schnittstelle von globalem Kapitalismus und lokalen sozio-politischen Kulturen
Search engines like Google or Bing are developed in the US-American context, but are used around the globe. Their business models are based on user-targeted advertising. They collect user data and turn it into user profiles, which are then being sold to advertising clients.
Background
Since the NSA affair practices of user profiling are under close scrutiny, especially in Europe with its diverse data protection laws, historically shaped notions of privacy, and very different tax systems. The reform of the EU data protection law shows very clearly the underlying tensions between global search engines and European policy and value-systems. It offers us an opportunity to observe and analyze the challenging task of translating culturally framed notions like privacy, but also ideas of economic growth and future society into EU legislation.
Aims and Objectives
Accordingly, the project Glocal Search examines the following research questions: What visions and values guide ongoing processes of search engine governance on the European level? And how do European visions relate to national identities, discourses, and value-systems? The study will answer these questions by conducting a discourse analysis of European policy documents, Austrian media, and qualitative interviews with European and national stakeholders involved in the governance of search engines. A particular focus lies on the ongoing EU data protection reform. The analysis will identify “sociotechnical imaginaries” (Jasanoff and Kim 2009) guiding search engine governance on a European and national level, trace the absence and presence of “the state” in these narratives, and analyze how Austrian imaginaries and European visions challenge, contradict, and reinforce each other.
Austria is an interesting case study since it is one of the countries that aim to hold on to their strict data protection legislations; compared to more liberal countries like Great Britain fearing that a strict European data protection legislation would weaken their economic power.
Results
Empirically, this study will offer insights in complex relations between globally operating search engines like Google and European value-systems, but also European disparities and the role nation states (can) play in European net politics. Theoretically, the project combines concepts from Science and Technology Studies, Critical Theory, and Technology Assessment. The project results will be presented to the international academic community in the form of talks and publications, and will also serve as a basis for recommendations directed at various stakeholders.
Project results (websites of The Oesterreichische Nationalbank)
The project is supported by the Jubilee Fund of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), project number 14702.
Publications
Publications
- . (2015). Glocal Search – Search technology at the intersection of global capitalism and local socio-political cultures: Final Report (p. 12). Wien. doi:/10.1553/ita-pb-a64
- . (2015). Europe against Google & Co.? ITA dossier no. 15en (April 2015; Author: Astrid Mager). Wien. doi:10.1553/ita-doss-015enDOIDownloadRISENWBIB Abstract
-> Global IT companies collect data to provide personalised advertising.
-> These business practices are contradicting European values and legislations.
-> The European data protection reform aims at forcing companies such as Google to respect European fundamental rights.
-> The implementation of this vision in form of political practices is characterised by friction and conflict.
-> In addition to the regulation of global search engines, Europe should focus on law enforcement and privacy-friendly technologies.
Author: Astrid Mager - . (2015). Europa gegen Google & Co? ITA-Dossier Nr. 15 (April 2015; Autorin: Astrid Mager). Wien. doi:10.1553/ita-doss-015DOIDownloadRISENWBIB Abstract
-> Globale IT Konzerne sammeln Daten, um personalisierte Werbung anzubieten.
-> Diese Geschäftspraktiken stehen im Spannungsfeld zu europäischen Werten und Gesetzen.
-> Die europäische Datenschutzreform will Firmen wie Google dazu zwingen, europäische Grundrechte zu respektieren.
-> Die Umsetzung dieser Vision in die politische Praxis ist jedoch von Bruchlinien und Konflikten geprägt.
-> Neben der Regulierung von globalen Suchmaschinen sollte Europa vermehrt auf Rechtsdurchsetzung und Privatsphäre-freundliche Technologien setzen.
Autorin: Astrid Mager - . (2015). Einladung zur Experten-Diskussion (Suchmaschinenpolitik – Europa gegen Google & Co.?). Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungs-news/einladung-zur-experten-diskussion
- . (2014). Ideologie des Algorithmus. Wie der neue Geist des Kapitalismus Suchmaschinen formt. In B. Stark, Dörr, D., & Aufenanger, S. (Eds.), Die Googleisierung der Informationssuche. Suchmaschinen zwischen Nutzung und Regulierung (pp. 201-223). Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.
- . (2014). Is small really beautiful? Big search and its alternatives. In R. König & Rasch, M. (Eds.), Society of the Query Reader. Reflections on Web Search (pp. 59-72). Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures.
- . (2014). Defining Algorithmic Ideology: Using Ideology Critique to Scrutinize Corporate Search Engines. Triplec: Communication, Capitalism & Critique, 12. Jg. – 2014, 28-39. Retrieved from http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/439/523WebsiteRISENWBIB Abstract
This article conceptualizes “algorithmic ideology” as a valuable tool to understand and critique corporate search engines in the context of wider socio-political developments. Drawing on critical theory it shows how capitalist value-systems manifest in search technology, how they spread through algorithmic logics and how they are stabilized in society. Following philosophers like Althusser, Marx and Gramsci it elaborates how content providers and users contribute to Google’s capital accumulation cycle and exploitation schemes that come along with it. In line with contemporary mass media and neoliberal politics they appear to be fostering capitalism and its “commodity fetishism” (Marx). It further reveals that the capitalist hegemony has to be constantly negotiated and renewed. This dynamic notion of ideology opens up the view for moments of struggle and counter-actions. “Organic intellectuals” (Gramsci) can play a central role in challenging powerful actors like Google and their algorithmic ideology. To pave the way towards more democratic information technology, however, requires more than single organic intellectuals. Additional obstacles need to be conquered, as I finally discuss.
- . (2013). Google und Co. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/projekte/news/google-und-co
- . (2013). In search of ideology. Socio-cultural dimensions of Google and alternative search engines. doi:10.1553/ITA-ms-13-02DOIWebsiteDownloadRISENWBIB Abstract
Google has been blamed for its de facto monopolistic position on the search engine market, its exploitation of user data, its privacy violations, and, most recently, for possible collaborations with the US-American National Security Agency (NSA). However, blaming Google is not enough, as I suggest in this article. Rather than being ready-made, Google and its ‘algorithmic ideology’ are constantly negotiated in society. Drawing on my previous work I show how the ‘new spirit of capitalism’ gets inscribed in Google’s technical Gestalt by way of social practices. Furthermore, I look at alternative search engines through the lens of ideology. Focusing on search projects like DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, YaCy and Wolfram|Alpha I exemplify that there are multiple ideologies at work. There are search engines that carry democratic values, the green ideology, the belief in the commons, and those that subject themselves to the scientific paradigm. In daily practice, however, the capitalist ideology appears to be hegemonic since 1) most users employ Google rather than alternative search engines, 2) a number of small search projects enter strategic alliances with big, commercial players, and 3) choosing a true alternative would require not only awareness and a certain amount of technical know-how, but also effort and patience on the part of users, as I finally discuss.
- . (2013). Technoscientific Promotion and Biofuel Policy: How the press and search engines stage the biofuel controversy. Media, Culture & Society, 35, 454-471. doi:10.1177/0163443713483794
- . (2012). Health information politics: Reconsidering the democratic ideal of the Web as a source of medical knowledge. First Monday, 17. doi:10.5210/fm.v17i10.3895
- . (2012). Review of Erkki Huhtamo and Jussi Parikka, eds., Media Archaeology. Approaches, Applications, and Implications (2011, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press). Information, Communication & Society. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2012.722224
- . (2012). "Glokale" Perspektive auf Google & Co. Ita-Newsletter, 3 f.Retrieved from http://epub.oeaw.ac.at/ita/ita-newsletter/NL0312.pdf#3
