The aim of this session is to think how the move beyond the individual aids in the pooling of data resources for the public good. The issues discussed range from a need to build a collective history, to using technologies in a responsible manner and to data redefined as general intellect. You hear talks from Laura James, Christopher Olk, and Heidi Laine.

Session is moderated by: Linnet Taylor

Making responsible technology the new normal
Laura James, Doteveryone

More than ever, we are aware of the need for better practices to address key challenges and tensions between technology and society. How can we make this a practical reality? We’ll outline the research from Doteveryone, including prototyping tools with businesses in the UK, and discuss how a movement towards responsible tech can bring together and amplify work on privacy, rights online, and more.

Determining Datamining: A Marxist perspective
Christopher Olk, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society

Taking some thoughts on “data as labour” stemming from postoperationism one step further, I will argue that data should best be understood as something Karl Marx has called the “General Intellect” of a society: What is usually just social and linguistic cooperation and play is appropriated and turned into capital (both fixed and circulant) by platforms. While this perspective may be attractive for left-leaning data activists, it also implies that data is less the product of an individual than of an entire society: OurData instead of MyData.

Right to be remembered
Heidi Laine, University of Helsinki

Understanding and being aware of history in all its aspects, from the elite to the oppressed, from the public sphere to the private, is crucial to societal development. Will tomorrows history be written only from the point of view of the victor, the strong and the prevailing? In this session we will discuss GDPR and data privacy from the point of view of remembering vs. forgetting.