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

Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles hosts a best-of-Season-Nine greatest hits episode, featuring: Kelly Beaver, Ipsos UK & Ireland; Angela Balakrishnan, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO); AI pathfinder and TED Talker, Susan Etlinger; senior comms advisor at Wadds Inc., Stephen Waddington; founder of Social for Good, Kerry Watkins; and, the Ohio State University's Professor of Story Science, Angus Fletcher.

Themes include the Market Research Society's "Campaign for Better Data", ultra-processed data in the age of AI, information rights and public trust, engineering-level rigour in PR and evidence-based measurement, authentic LinkedIn strategy for nonprofits and digital wellbeing (living life 24/six), and narrative cognition with anomalies, intuition, creativity, and leadership.

Chapters (mm:ss)
00:00 Intro and wrap-up setup
00:22 Kelly Beaver, Ipsos, on the Campaign for Better Data
01:08 Ultra-processed data
42:41 Tool and weapon framing
44:26 Data Commerce Conference guests
45:07 Shedding a trail of data
54:48 Thanks to guests
56:06 See you again soon

Data Malarkey

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

• Contact: hello@usingdatasmarter.com

• Suggest a guest: https://www.usingdatasmarter.com/guest

Professor of Story Science, Angus Fletcher, joins Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, to dig into narrative cognition, creativity, and innovation in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. Drawing on Project Narrative (based at Ohio State University) and his book Primal Intelligence, Angus explains why logic is not reality, why adults struggle with intuition, and why the most effective stories and breakthroughs start with an anomaly. We explore intuition, imagination, emotion, and common sense as core human capabilities that enable us to outperform computational optimisation and AI when the world is changing fast and low on (reliable) data.

Angus shares lessons from U.S. Army Special Operations training and a NASA case study on empowering young engineers, showing how leaders can detect anomalies early, design new plans for new environments, and build cultures that reward creativity over certainty. If you care about decision making, leadership, AI vs human judgment, innovation strategy, and story science, this episode is for you.

Resources and links

• Project Narrative (Ohio State University) - https://projectnarrative.osu.edu/

• Primal Intelligence (Angus' 2025 bestselling book) - https://www.angusfletcher.co/

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