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| Canadian whistleblower Christopher Wylie speaks during the annual Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon on November 6, 2018 (AFP Photo/PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA) |
Lisbon (AFP) - A whistleblower who claimed data consultancy Cambridge Analytica played a role in obtaining data from Facebook users called Tuesday for greater government regulation of social media and online advertising.
"Why
is it we can regulate nuclear power, but we can't regulate code"
Christopher Wylie, a former director of research at the now-defunct data
consultancy, said at the Web Summit, Europe's biggest tech gathering, in
Lisbon.
Wylie
earlier this year said data from millions of Facebook users was used by
Cambridge Analytica without their knowledge to help elect US President Donald
Trump -- a claim denied by the company.
In his
address at the Web Summit, Wylie also called on data scientists to be subject
to an ethical code just as doctors, nurses and teachers are.
"Why
is it that as a data scientists, we don't have to think of the ethical and
moral implications of what we are doing. I think that is absurd," he said
to applause from the audience.
The need
for regulation is more urgent given the rise in the number of people using
social media, he added.
"People
now sleep with their phones more than they sleep with people," Wylie said.
Some 70,000
people are expected to take part in the four-day Web Summit which got underway
Monday, including speakers from leading global tech companies, politicians and
start-ups hoping to attract investors.
Dubbed
"the Davos for geeks", the annual event was launched in Dublin in
2010 and moved to Lisbon six years later.
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