The metadata-driven killing apparatus: big data analytics, the target selection process, and the threat to international humanitarian law

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of metadata analytics in the target selection process to show how such analytics undermines the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law, that is, the principle of distinction between combatants and civilians. The central part of the article is divided into three sections. The first section provides a brief overview of how international humanitarian law draws the line between civilians and legitimate military targets (e.g. members of armed forces, paramilitary groups, organized armed groups, and civilians directly participating in hostilities) in both international and non-international armed conflicts. The second section explores the use of metadata analytics in the target selection process by focusing on two programs, the Real Time – Real Gateway (RT-RG) and SKYNET, developed by the United States to detect deviant ‘terrorist’ behaviour. The third section provides new insights into how metadata analytics creates the circumstances for violations of the principle of distinction. This section focuses on four characteristics of metadata analysis that undermine the principle of distinction (e.g. the inability to make qualitative distinctions between potential targets, the uncertainty of results, the incorporated margin of error, and the unpredictability of target determinations).