Data Leverage: A Framework for Empowering the Public in its Relationship with Technology Companies

Abstract

Many powerful computing technologies rely on data contributions from the public. This dependency suggests a potential source of leverage: by reducing, stopping, redirecting, or otherwise manipulating data contributions, people can influence and impact the effectiveness of these technologies. In this paper, we synthesize emerging research that helps people better understand and action this data leverage. Drawing on prior work in areas including machine learning, human-computer interaction, and fairness and accountability in computing, we present a framework for understanding data leverage that highlights new opportunities to empower the public in its relationships with technology companies. Our framework also points towards ways that policymakers can augment data leverage as a means of changing the balance of power between the public and tech companies. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing theory, concepts and paradigms.

What a power-with looks like and why we should choose it

“…These include First Nations Peoples seeking data sovereignty (Walter et al, 2021) and not providing their Indigenous status in data collectionsessentially resisting data supply-where they feel the data use is potentially discriminating and not in their interests (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, p. 11). Other examples include citizen census boycotts and cancellations (Kitchin and Lauriault 2014, p. 9); students resisting algorithmic grading (Jones and Safak, 2020); welfare recipients and advocates resisting automated debt collection based on data matching (Whiteford, 2020); and in the commercial sphere consumers reducing their digital footprint or purposefully inputting misleading data (Vincent et al, 2021), or taking their business and data to providers with more acceptable terms (Doffman, 2021;Vincent et al, 2021).…”