The modern information society is governed by a central tension between drives to promote transparency and open access to information, and a persistent need to safeguard privacy. Regarding anti-corruption efforts, this tension has again been illustrated very recently through a ruling of the EU Court of Justice stating that public access to beneficial ownership registries infringes fundamental individual rights. In contrast, the B20 Integrity and Compliance Task Force recommended in 2020 to implement digital public national registers to increase transparency around beneficial owners, thus acknowledging the importance of wider scrutiny.

The project Integrity Distributed, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in collaboration with ABinBev and Kona AI provides an interesting example of how to reap the benefits of information, while safeguarding privacy. The tool feeds on decentralised knowledge about high-risk transactions without sharing the underlying data – it is 25% more likely to predict improper payments.

Human dignity is closely linked to people’s right to expression, however, both values might come into conflict from time to time. Today’s social media platforms facilitate the exchange of opinion, while at the same time amplifying reputational risk, even for normal citizens, through misrepresentation or public shaming.

At the same time, people’s inability to participate in online debates, due to a persisting digital divide, undermines their ability to leverage civic voices, participation, and accountability. In 2021, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimated that 37% of the world’s population had never used the internet – and many who do use the internet have only irregular access.

Finally, the broader implementation of AI raises concerns about people’s freedom of choice. This has been underlined specifically regarding e-commerce – think for instance about concerns that Amazon recommendations manipulate people into making purchasing decisions.

These aspects also challenge the role of technology for anti-corruption. There is considerable scepticism as to whether technologies can or should replace the human factor, notably regarding creating public trust, widely regarded as the currency of integrity.

Equally, data is the fuel that drives technology, but non-curated data will be overwhelming and unusable. Equally, technologies might be applied for fraudulent purposes, undermining integrity rather than promoting it.

To counter these challenges, Andrew Davies from ComplyAdvantage, suggests collecting only as much data as necessary and ensure to limit the inclusion of data that would create biases in the analysis. At the same time, digital education is critical to provide people and organizations with sufficient autonomy to make decisions. In return, this might enhance trust and autonomy of individuals using frontier technologies.