Prof. Dr. Aleš Završnik has contributed to the publication of the renowned scientific monograph “The De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Criminology“, which deals with the impact of digitalization on crime and social control. His chapter analyzes the changing meaning of the term Big Data over time and its relationship to digitalization in a modern “data-rich” society, where large amounts of data are often referred to as the “new oil”.
CHAPTER 12: Big data
This chapter explores the relevance of big data to criminology by providing different perspectives on its benefits and risks in the context of fighting crime, explaining typical uses of big data in the fight against crime, and warning of potential threats to fundamental freedoms in the use of modern artificial intelligence technologies that make sense of data. In doing so, it establishes connections between Big Data and artificial intelligence with the concepts of risk, prediction and preventive approaches in the fight against crime. The De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Criminology is the first publication of its kind on the market to provide a comprehensive thematic overview of how crime and social control are inextricably linked to digital technologies. Offering both theoretical and methodological insights, the handbook includes contributions from experts in various disciplines such as criminology, sociology, law, science and technology studies, information science and digital humanities.
