Testimony

Testimony Before the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy

May 2019 🇨🇦 House of Commons of Canada — Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

On May 28, 2019, Roger McNamee testified before the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy, convened in Ottawa by Canada's Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics with parliamentarians from more than ten countries attending. Appearing alongside Shoshana Zuboff, Jim Balsillie, and Maria Ressa, McNamee described how Google and Facebook assemble detailed behavioral profiles from web tracking, apps, and third-party data, and argued that engagement-tuned algorithms preferentially amplify fear and outrage because emotionally provocative content holds attention longest. He told legislators the result is '2.5 billion Truman Shows' — personalized information worlds he associates with polarization and reduced individual autonomy — and urged structural regulation of data collection rather than reliance on platform self-reform. TechKids Foundation includes this appearance as McNamee's platform-design critique entered into a formal parliamentary record.

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CITATION

McNamee, Roger. Evidence, Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI), Meeting No. 152 (International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy), House of Commons of Canada, 42nd Parliament, 1st Session, May 28, 2019. https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/ETHI/meeting-152/evidence

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