Digital Keepers: Ethics of Saving Online Data About Latin American Social Movements

Photo Attribute: Dr. Maximilian C. Forte

Presented by: Itza CarbajalUniversity of Texas at Austin School of Information

“As more researchers embark on digital scholarship, there exist an ever increasing need for the development of digital sensibilities.

A SMALL

DOSE OF SURVEILLANC

E

A LARGER DOSE OF

SURVEILLANCE

How often do researchers consider their role and responsibility in ethically preserving online and born digital content documenting various movements based in Latin America?

How do researchers navigate the need for knowledge, while also respecting privacy and safety in hopes of subverting the possibility of providing intel for surveilling institutions

Ethical Dilemmas Considered

▪ How much information to provide when describing digital data?

▪ What sort of review process should researchers undergo with digital data?

▪ When depositing research data, what steps should researchers take?

How does Data exist?

Diagram provided by Spirion

How to better understand Data.

Diagram provided by Itza Carbajal

SOADVideo of Soad Nicole Ham Bustillos made its round on social networks shortly after her student group gathered to protest the changes to the educational system in Honduras.

Image Attribute: La Tribuna

SOADHonduran news agencies stated that her appearance on social networks that reached thousands of angry Hondurans there and abroad cost her life.

Image Attribute: La Prensa

Digital Freedoms

Of the 65 countries assessed 32 have been on a negative trajectory since June 2014

“MEXICO- Criticism of Authorities (sporadic)- Political Opposition

COLOMBIA- Criticism of Authorities (sporadic)- Conflict (sporadic)

ECUADOR- Satire (sporadic)- Social Commentary (sporadic) ARGENTINA

- Satire- Social Commentary BRAZIL

- Corruption (sporadic)- Social Commentary (sporadic)

VENEZUELA- Mobilization for Public Causes- Social Commentary - Political Opposition (sporadic)- Corruption- Conflict (sporadic)- Criticism of Authorities

ECUADOR- Mobilization for Public Causes - Satire (sporadic)- Social Commentary - Political Opposition- Corruption - Criticism of Authorities

DescribeMetadata is data about data. This can include a person’s name, location, phone number, screen name, email, network addresses, facial features, place of work, school, or play to name a few.

Even if organizers and activists take necessary steps that does not guarantee that personal information has not attached itself to their digital footprint.

Photo Attribute: Anonymous Contributor Twitter

ReviewReview can be frequently overlooked as it can appear as though all cautionary practices come at the beginning of a research endeavor.

Kritika Agarwal highlights in a recent article on the American Historical Association, groups and individuals are actively working towards developing standards and practices that emphasize notions of consent and safety in regards to creators and their digital footprints.

Photo Attribute: Tough Customer Youtube Video

Deposit/ArchiveAs the chain of custody becomes blurry, even archivists that wish to protect creators’ personal information face obstacles from having to locate and obtain consent to deciding what information to provide on online through digital archival portals.

Photo Attribute: Huffington Post

last thoughts on our current realities

“ The creators of digital data exist beyond the device screen and their safety should be of the utmost concern especially for those wishing to become an extension of the work being done on the ground.

References▪ Agarwal, Kritika. “Doing Right Online: Archivists Shape an Ethics for the Digital Age” American Historical Association. November

2016. https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/ november-2016/doing-right-online-archivists-shape-an-ethics-for-the-digital-age.

▪ Anonymous. 'The riot is one night ... but metadata lasts forever' ~ Security culture basics for #j20 #disruptj20. January 20, 2017, 11:15 AM. https://twitter.com/YourAnonGlobal/status/822522890704785409.

▪ Contributor, Anonymous. "Smashed Windows, Social Media and State Surveillance." IT'S GOING DOWN. October 03, 2016. Accessed February 20, 2017. https://itsgoingdown.org/smashed-windows-social-media-state-surveillance/.

▪ Harlow, Summer, and Dustin Harp. n.d. “COLLECTIVE ACTION ON THE WEB: A Cross-Cultural Study of Social Networking Sites and Online and Offline Activism in the United States and Latin America.”

▪ Kelly, Sanja, Madeline Earp, Laura Reed, Adrian Shahbaz, and Mai Truong. 2015. “Freedom on the Net.” Washington DC and New York:Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FH_FOTN_2015Report.pdf.

▪ Marr, Bernard. 2015. “Big Data: 20 Mind-Boggling Facts Everyone Must Read” Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/09/30/big-data-20-mind-boggling-facts-everyone-must-read/#5b1111c217b1

Questions?s