What happens when the business model of the internet rewards attention at any cost - and AI makes it even easier to centralise power, traffic, and revenue?

In this episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, host and Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, is joined by Harriet Kingaby, Co-Chair of the Conscious Advertising Network (CAN). Harriet explores how advertising incentives shape the information ecosystem, why "information integrity" matters for democracy and business, and what conscious advertisers should be asking before they partner with platforms.

This is a conversation about digital trust, algorithmic discrimination, recommendation algorithms, AI search summaries, the "no-click internet", data privacy, and why transparency in advertising is foundational if we want healthier online systems.

Key topics

• Conscious advertising and advertising ethics

• Information integrity and transparent advertising

• AI in advertising and AI-driven search summaries

• Recommendation algorithms and algorithmic discrimination

• Online harms, self-harm content, and monetisation incentives

• The "no-click internet" and the death of the open web

• UN Global Principles on Information Integrity

• Facial recognition and surveillance risks in advertising and the home

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

What you'll learn

• Why Harriet thinks the incentives behind online platforms can produce unhealthy outcomes

• How CAN works as a "broad church" bringing together industry and civil society

• What "information integrity" means in practice - and why advertising transparency is central

• How discrimination can show up through recommendation systems and reach

• Why the "no-click internet" could reshape publishing, revenue, and independent content

• The kinds of questions advertisers should ask when partnering with platforms and AI tools

• A striking example of data misuse: facial recognition embedded in TV sets for ad targeting

External resources

• LinkedIn: Harriet Kingaby - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hkingaby/

• Conscious Advertising Network - https://www.consciousadnetwork.com

• CAN's Guiding Principles - https://www.consciousadnetwork.com/the-guidingprincipleslandingpage/

• UN Global Principles on Information Integrity https://www.un.org/en/information-integrity/global-principles

• The EU Digital Services Act - https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act

• The Molly Rose Foundation report - https://mollyrosefoundation.org/

• Cambridge Analytica scandal - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c81zyn0888lt