DSN Bookmarks: Big Gender Data, Privacy 2020, and Data-Sharing Legal Regimes
Welcome to Data Stewards Network (DSN) Bookmarks — a biweekly curation of news, research, and other insights related to the systemic, sustainable, and responsible management of data for public benefit. If you would like to receive our resource curation in your inbox every week, subscribe here. Have an interesting article, report, or initiative worth sharing? Send it to us at datastewards@thegovlab.org
Gender Data
Bapu Vaitla, Stefaan Verhulst, Linus Bengtsson, Marta C. González, Rebecca Furst-Nichols & Emily Courey Pryor published a new essay in Nature examining The Promise and Perils of Big Gender Data. The authors argue “[b]ig data can have a profound influence on improving the lives of all, but only if it is intentionally managed as a vehicle for equity and empowerment, not simply as a novel technical resource.”
Flavie Halais published an article on Making Public Transit Fairer to Women Demands Way More Data, reviewing data-driven research into gendered use of public transportation. The piece highlights a data collaborative launched by The GovLab, UNICEF, Universidad del Desarrollo, Telefónica R&D Center, and ISI Foundation in Santiago de Chile.
Data Responsibility
Grzegorz Mazurek and Karolina Małagocka, in Business Horizons journal, wrote What if you ask and they say yes? Consumers’ willingness to disclose personal data is stronger than you think. The authors find that: “Companies’ success in obtaining client data depends largely on three Ts: transparency, type of data, and trust. These three Ts — which, combined, constitute a main T (i.e., the transfer of personal data) — deserve attention when seeking customer information that can be converted to competitive advantage and market success.”
Privacy 2020: 10 Privacy Risks and 10 Privacy Enhancing Technologies to Watch in the Next Decade a new Future of Privacy Forum white paper by Jules Polonetsky and Elizabeth Renieris, includes reflections on emerging innovations in data responsibility. The authors argue: “Over the next decade, privacy considerations will be driven by innovations in tech linked to human bodies, health, and social networks; infrastructure; and computing power. The white paper also highlights ten developments that can enhance privacy — providing cause for optimism that organizations will be able to manage data responsibly. Some of these technologies are already in general use, some will soon be widely deployed, and others are nascent.”
Humanitarian Data
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) published a report on the The State of Open Humanitarian Data (January 2020). The report highlights the data available through the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) — including data drawn from public, private, and civil society organizations — and key data gaps that, if filled, could further bolster humanitarian response in different contexts.
Data Law & Policy
Data as Infrastructure? A study of data sharing legal regimes by Charlotte Ducuing in Competition and Regulation in Network Industries provides an assessment of three data sharing legal regimes and argues against one-size-fits-all solutions.
Policy Lab UK’s Human-centred policy? Blending ‘big data’ and ‘thick data’ in national policy explores the dual value of quantitative and qualitative data in driving more effective policymaking.
You can also find additional resources related to data stewardship and data collaboration here.
