Did you see my TikTok? Try out Yoti's age verification service for yourself, here.

Media. Communications.
Researcher. Marketer.
I am passionate about understanding how people connect and communicate globally.

77042345_2533479880054789_67708089204253

About.

Growing up in rural Wales, the limited access to the internet made my early relationship with the online world something quite special. I believe it is this early feeling that has resulted in me delving deep into how citizens and media institutions create, connect and communicate globally. Throughout working towards my first-class honours’ degree at Cardiff University, my desire to continue understanding how media communications construct our knowledge of the global world has deepened. I have since gained a masters (distinction) in Marketing at Cardiff Business School and am continuing with a 2nd masters at the London School of Economics.

Services.

Alongside my study of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, I provide bespoke marketing support to range of businesses and organisations, specialising in assisting businesses embrace opportunities in the digital sphere. I work to help businesses and organisations to improve their online image to harvest brand equity and rememberability alongside implementing new strategies to build and maintain profitable customer relations.

Balancing the benefits and risks of emerging technologies

Most recently, my research has focused on data usage by COVID-19 digital contract tracing services. The research sought to seek the cultural and political forces that shaped the success of services in countries like China and South Korea but prevented rapid roll-out of similar technologies in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The potential use of technology to impose social restrictions, which could help suppress the pandemic, has been widely rejected by the majority of American states. This is thought to be largely because this emerging technology essentially places algorithms in control of citizen’s freedoms. This is despite the fact that similar technologies, where freedom depends on algorithmic results, are widely used in the American justice system to determine whether defendants are likely to reoffend. These algorithms were found to produce racially biased results, with a study by ProPublica finding that algorithms used within the American justice system are almost twice as likely to flag black Americans as future criminals than white Americans. How emerging technologies effect historically marginalised communities is of particular interest to me.

Reluctancy to use contact tracing applications by Western countries, in particular the USA, is attributed to a general mistrust in authorities. While in countries like South Korea and China, high levels of co-operation are attributed to restrictions on services and strict enforcement measures. I am also interested in how increased levels of algorithmic accountability and transparency could increase uptake of emerging technologies in the future, while reducing the risk of algorithmic bias occurring. I am also actively monitoring whether COVID-19 will increase incidences of ‘surveillance creeps’ globally. This is where implemented technology outlasts its original purpose and becomes a permanent fixture.