A Case for Critical Public Interest Technologists

By Data & Society Fellow Mutale Nkonde

Public interest technologists help evaluate the impact technological systems will have on society. As a public interest technologist myself, I was honored to join a team in briefing the Office of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke on the impact algorithmic decision-making systems like facial recognition software, bail predictive instruments, and candidate screening tools have on women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ and disabled communities. In part thanks to these conversations, Congresswoman Clarke became the House sponsor of the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019, which was introduced in early April. The bill calls for large tech companies to audit the algorithmic systems they build to ensure they do not violate the civil rights of people from protected classes.

However, in doing this work I have come to realize that public interest technologists’ efforts right now aren’t always enough. In order to create a truly equitable future, public interest technologists should be critical of the asymmetrical power systems that lead to the weaponization of technological systems against vulnerable communities.

Public interest technologists should be critical of the asymmetrical power systems that lead to the weaponization of technological systems against vulnerable communities.

This work should not and can not only rest in the hands of institutions like Stanford and Google (who recently announced — and dissolved — the Advanced Technologies External Advisory Council). Their combined power often inadvertently erases the work being done by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ and disabled communities, unless they are intentional about including these stakeholders in the discussion.

I am continually inspired by my fellow critical public interest technologists, but their voices don’t always make it into the popular press. I wanted to fill this gap by talking to a couple of them to understand both the role they play and to encourage others to prioritize the voices of those seeking to make structural change.

Alisa Valentin, Phd

she/her/hers; 2018 Public Knowledge Communications Justice Fellow

Public sector tech means recognizing the unique impact of technology on all communities through fruitful conversations with diverse stakeholders, elevating their narratives, and subsequently advocating for inclusive policies that are in the public interest.

I applied for a fellowship program at Public Knowledge (PK) because I believe it was important to me to have on-the-job training and mentorship from people within my organization. Public Knowledge is a well-known consumer advocacy organization and I am thrilled to work in such an intellectually stimulating environment. This fellowship has allowed me to figure out my passions, collaborate with various organizations on projects, and it has given me the confidence I need to move forward to my next position.

I lead PK’s work on rural broadband and I serve as the point person for the Broadband Connects America coalition. As someone from the rural south, it’s incredibly important for me to work to close the digital divide in rural areas, low-income communities, and communities of color so my advocacy in this space is extremely personal.

I want to see groups (civil rights and otherwise) develop and advocate for inclusive policies. I want policy panels to be diverse. After I have completed my fellowship, I want this space to be different because my colleagues at Public Knowledge gave me the room and mentorship to do the work that’s important to marginalized communities.

OS Keyes

They/Them; PhD Student, University of Washington; Ada Lovelace Fellow

I often see “public sector tech” treated as technology design for the state — treating the state and public as one and the same. To me this is the furthest thing from the truth; as Mark Purcell puts it “the deep truth of the State…[is] that the State is an oligarchy whose purpose is to prevent democracy.” Public sector tech must be technology that creates space for alternate ways of living, decided by those subject to them, without the involvement of the state at all.

I applied to the Ada Lovelace Fellowship because the economics of grad school means I need the money.

I am working on the following projects through the fellowship program: developing models of computing that are constrained and restricted, so that networking and connection must be negotiated and consented to; trying to persuade the Association for Computing Machinery to take trans liberation seriously; and driving a stake through the heart of facial recognition technology with the aid of my platonic academic crush Nikki Stevens.

My work aims to build counterpower: spaces and tools which work against the hierarchies of power and oppression we live under. Through building these spaces, we both provide limited respite to those suffering and demonstrate that other, better ways of being are possible.

Mutale Nkonde is a fellow at Data & Society Research Institute and a policy advisor. She is currently working with the Office of Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, House Sponsor of the Algorithm Accountability Act of 2019.