Introduction to the Data Power Special Issue: tactics, access and shaping

• Published in: Online information review 2019-10, Vol.43 (6), p.945-951
• Main Authors: Gerrard, Ysabel, Bates, Jo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activism; Activists; Adult Learning; Aging (Individuals); Big Data; Business; Case Studies; Citizenship; Compliance; Conferences (Gatherings); Crime; Data management; Data systems; Datasets; Disease control; Ethics; Government (Administrative Body); Infrastructure; Management systems; Personal information; Political activism; Political Issues; Power; Research methodology; Scientific visualization; Social Change; Tactics
• ISSN: 1468-4527; 1468-4535
• DOI: 10.1108/OIR-10-2019-396

Introduction to the Data Power Special Issue: tactics, access and shaping The articles in this Online Information Review (OIR) Special Issue were presented at the Data Power Conference 2017[1] (Carleton University, Canada, 22-23 June), organised by local hosts Dr Tracey Lauriault and Dr Merlyna Lim, with support from the wider Data Power Steering Committee comprising Professor Helen Kennedy, Dr Jo Bates and Dr Ysabel Gerrard (Sheffield, UK). The papers in this Special Issue approach discussions of inequality and injustice through three broad lenses: the tactics people use to confront unequal distributions of (data) power; the access to data that are most relevant and essential for particular social groups, coupled with the changing and uncertain legalities of data access; and the shaping of social relations by and through data, whether through the demands placed on app users to disclose more personal information, the use of data to construct cultures of compliance or through the very methodologies commonly used to organise and label information. Opening this Special Issue, Claire Lee’s paper shares novel early insights into how Chinese citizens adopt tactics in the face of the social credit system: a form of societal governance that intends to standardise Chinese citizens’ behaviour and reputation by collecting personal information to evaluate citizens and give them a “social credit score”. With a high score, one can easily acquire a cash advance, obtain expedited access to vital services including medical insurance and education, as well as enjoy faster processing at customs, in applying for visas and securing animal adoptions.