“Mind the five”: Guidelines for data privacy and security in humanitarian work with undocumented migrants and other vulnerable populations

Abstract

The forced displacement and transnational migration of millions of people around the world is a growing phenomenon that has been met with increased surveillance and datafication by a variety of actors. Small humanitarian organizations that help irregular migrants in the United States frequently do not have the resources or expertise to fully address the implications of collecting, storing, and using data about the vulnerable populations they serve. As a result, there is a risk that their work could exacerbate the vulnerabilities of the very same migrants they are trying to help. In this study, we propose a conceptual framework for protecting privacy in the context of humanitarian information activities (HIA) with irregular migrants. We draw from a review of the academic literature as well as interviews with individuals affiliated with several US‐based humanitarian organizations, higher education institutions, and nonprofit organizations that provide support to undocumented migrants. We discuss 3 primary issues: (i) HIA present both technological and human risks; (ii) the expectation of privacy self‐management by vulnerable populations is problematic; and (iii) there is a need for robust, actionable, privacy‐related guidelines for HIA. We suggest 5 recommendations to strengthen the privacy protection offered to undocumented migrants and other vulnerable populations.

Mind the Five Card Game

“…These information practices include storing personal information collected through online intake forms on services like Google Docs or other insecure cloud storage sites, using a single Google account and password for all or many of the organization's documents, and using Facebook groups to discuss issues related to migratory status. Other researchers have identified similar behaviors (Guberek et al, 2018;Shoemaker et al, 2019;Vannini et al, 2019).…”

“…Currently, self-management and informed consent are invoked as the best way to guarantee people's privacy. However, subjects, and vulnerable populations in particular, are not always able to make decisions about giving or withholding consent to the collection and use of personal data, and may not be aware of the long-term consequences of such consent (Vannini et al, 2019).…”

A call for the library community to deploy best practices toward a database for biocultural knowledge relating to climate change

“…In addition to promoting respectful and reciprocal (Vannini et al ., 2020) relationships with participating communities toward reflecting authentic heritage and knowledge, security planning and safety standards should involve stakeholders at all stages. This inclusive approach should apply to documentation and information-sharing work regarding scientific data sets, and intangible and concrete cultural artifacts.…”

OUP accepted manuscript

“…Violence is pushing non-government organisations (NGOs) to reconsider their operations in conflict areas and the norm to provide humanitarian assistance to whereever it is needed, is consistently being challenged and possibly modified ( Human Rights Watch, 2019 ; Nicoson et al , 2019 ). Countries with fragile governments, economies and geographies ricochet from one crisis to the next ( UNOCHA, 2019 ; Griswold et al , 2020 ; Przybyla and Kathman, 2020 ; ). Many countries caught up in conflict or natural disasters with inadequate health care systems are weakened further by the lack of resources to deal with treatable diseases like malaria, let alone global pandemics such as COVID-19 ( Adom et al , 2020 ; Truelove et al , 2020 ).…”

“…The business model of humanitarianism has also paved the way for different kinds of interventions, new NGO’s mandates and emerging definitions of what constitutes a humanitarian crisis ( Gordon and Donini, 2015 ; Peters, 2019 ). This is evident in the current wave of information and communication technologies (ICTs), which are prolifically active in fragile humanitarian contexts ( Sandvik et al , 2017 ; Vannini et al , 2020 ) As much as technology holds implicit promise and enables successes that were considered impossible in the past, ICTs are usually implemented by private companies who use the opportunity for public relations and profit-making opportunities. This demonstrates there is concerning disconnect between the work of ICTs and the needs of the communities during a humanitarian crisis ( Madianou, 2019 ).…”