Tag Archives: data sovereignty

M4: P5 – Spark: Democratizing Data

In this episode of Spark, Democratizing Data, Nora Young (2021) investigates how big tech steals our data, and uses it for their own good. In fact, as Young points out, we are almost paying twice for our data: first by giving them our data when we use their platforms, and then how the data will inform the market about our spending habits (Young, 2021, 15:25). 

What drew my attention to this episode was not just the data grabs, but the influence big data has on Indigenous peoples; or might I say, the lack of reciprocity with what is taken (sound familiar?). One guest, author Jer Thorp speaks of the moral obligation of tech companies to talk to the Indigenous communities that they take data from, much like Ginsburg (2008) speak of the significance of the data staying within the community (Young, 2021, 22:45). Furthermore, Thorpe likens the data mining to the land grabs of colonialism (Young, 2021, 50:40). Finally, Branka Panic echos this idea of data collection and the new colonialism, and the importance of Indigenous communities gaining control over their data by saying, “…we see this very important trend in Canada and the U.S. with Indigenous communities, and making sure we have this data sovereignty being given back to people themselves” (Young, 2021, 50:49). I will be looking at data sovereignty in my final project.

Reference

Ginsburg, F. (2008). Rethinking the digital age. In Global Indigenous Media, P. Wilson & M Stewart, Eds., pp. 287-306. doi 10.2307/j.ctv11cw78p.19

Young, N. (Host). (2021, May 2). Democratizing data. [Audio podcast episode]. In Spark. CBC.

M4: P3 – Spark: The Disappearing Web

The idea of obsolescence and Indigenous knowledge on the web came to me through my last post: Keoni Mahelona and Peter-Lucas Jones on Indigenous Data Sovereignty. In that interview Jones and Mahelona explain that if the medium through which a language is stored is lost, then part of the culture is lost with it. In this episode of Spark, Young (2021) explores how previous forms of print material are available to historians, but digital data is pervasively disappearing from the web. This is, of course, a dire predicament when it comes to storing Indigenous knowledge through online platforms.

Reference

Young, N. (Host). (2021, June 10). Disappearing web. [Audio podcast episode]. In Spark. CBC.

M4: P2 – Keoni Mahelona and Peter-Lucas Jones on Indigenous Data Sovereignty

This event was part of McGill’s Feminist Publishing and Tech Speaker Series in 2021, and more befitting to this course was co-hosted by the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IFF). I came across Peter-Lucas Jones in an Unreserved with Falen Johnson CBC podcast (Johnson, 2021). In that podcast Jones speaks about his machine learning software he created to revitalize Māori language, culture, and traditional knowledge. 

In this speaker series event, Jones, along with his partner Keoni Mahelona, bring up several interesting and important points about storing Indigenous languages and knowledge online. The first idea that Jones touches on is how Indigenous peoples have always stored data in song and dance (FP&TSS, 2021, 8:01). However, moving into the 21st century Indigenous groups are looking for ways to store their language and culture digitally. In doing so, Jones and Mahelona discuss ways to overcome the plight of using online platforms. To me, the most poignant notion is that although there are services offered for “free” by Facebook and YouTube, these companies are making money off the data that they collect from individuals and groups (FP&TSS, 2021, 29:33). In fact, Jones and Mahelona liken the data mining of big tech today to the land grabs of colonizers (FP&TSS, 2021, 56:27). An important way that they avoid giving into big data grabs is by creating their own platforms so that they own the data themselves (FP&TSS, 2021, 41:51). Another interesting point that is brought up is that of digital obsolescence (FP&TSS, 2021, 69:56). Digital obsolescence is prominent online. If Indigenous groups are using online platforms to keep their knowledge safe, they must ensure its continuity by keeping their links available online to circumvent online obscurity. 

This is a long (92:14) video, but brings to light many important aspects of Indigenous online spaces.

References

Feminist Publishing and Tech Speaker Series (FP&TSS). (2021, March 3). Keoni Mahelona and Peter-Lucas Jones on Indigenous Data Sovereignty. [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/YgPfWUdtjig

Johnson, F. (Host). (2021, May 16). How Indigenous people are promoting and learning their languages. [Audio podcast episode]. In Unreserved with Falen Johnson. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-105-unreserved/clip/15843149-how-indigenous-people-promoting-learning-languages.