Linnet Taylor | Tilburg University (original) (raw)

Papers by Linnet Taylor

International development and humanitarian organizations are increasingly calling for digital da... more International development and humanitarian organizations are increasingly calling for digital data to be treated as a public good because of its value in supplementing scarce national statistics and informing interventions, including in emergencies. In response to this claim, a ‘responsible data’ movement has evolved to discuss guidelines and frameworks that will establish ethical principles for data sharing. However, this movement is not gaining traction with those who hold the highest-value data, particularly mobile network operators who are proving reluctant to make data collected in low- and middle-income
countries accessible through intermediaries. This paper evaluates how the argument for ‘data as a public good’ fits with the corporate reality of big data, exploring existing models for data sharing. I draw on the idea of corporate data as an ecosystem involving often conflicting rights, duties and claims, in comparison to the utilitarian claim that data’s humanitarian value makes it imperative to share them. I assess the power dynamics implied by the idea of data as a public good, and how differing incentives lead actors to adopt particular ethical positions with regard to the use of data.

Geographies of Urban Governance, 2015

Questions of data and algorithmic analysis saturated the conference at which Dalton and Thatcher ... more Questions of data and algorithmic analysis saturated the conference at which Dalton and Thatcher first called for a Critical Data Studies (Dalton and Thatcher, 2014a). Soon thereafter, Taylor published a response to their original call (Dalton and Thatcher, 2014b) that focused on the spatial nature of data and the need to critically contextualize it (Taylor, 2015a). This was one of multiple beginnings of Critical Data Studies, as it will always be three words cobbled together imperfectly signifying diverse sets of work around data’s recursive relationship to society (c.f. Graham 2014; Kitchin 2014, and elsewhere). We highlight that moment not to claim the concept, but to contextualize the focus of this co-interview. When Taylor published their response to Dalton and Thatcher, she focused on the specifically spatial nature of much data, not only in the content of said data, but also in the need to contextualize from where it originates and is put to use. Data varies across space in a variety of ways: from those included or excluded to those who access said data for analysis, manipulation and (re)presentation.

As the use of digital technologies grows, so too has the potential that we will be read, interpre... more As the use of digital technologies grows, so too has the potential that we will be read, interpreted and targeted for action based on the data we emit. Big Data analytics, however, are frequently focused not on individuals but on the aggregate level, with the aim of targeting interventions at groups according to characteristics such as location or behaviour. Given that the rules and norms that define and limit the power of those who process such data are formulated around notions of individual harm and personal identifiability, the era of big data seems to pose new problems for privacy and data protection. This chapter considers satellite data, mobile phone traces and data practices in smart cities, and asks whether current rules and norms with regard to privacy may need to be extended to consider collective rights and harms.

This thesis focuses on the intersection of human mobility and technology diffusion in Africa. Wit... more This thesis focuses on the intersection of human mobility and technology diffusion in Africa. With Ghana as a case study, it looks at how the diffusion of internet access and use are influenced by international mobility. The research is based in the literature on the diffusion of innovations, international knowledge transmission, migration and development, and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). It begins from the hypothesis that
international mobility may contribute to lowering barriers to internet penetration in developing countries by facilitating flows of resources, including equipment, finance, skills and knowledge.
The research is based on four different datasets: a survey of the internet cafes in the North of Ghana and in Accra; an online survey of users in northern internet cafes; a network study incorporating internet cafe owners and managers in higher-value-added areas of the IT sector, and in-depth interviews with policymakers and donor organisations involved in ICT4D interventions. The data was analysed using a combination of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and
network analytic techniques including visualisation, statistical analysis and qualitative analysis.
The findings show that international mobility makes an important contribution to the base of adoption capacity for new technologies in poor and remote regions. It enables entrepreneurs and IT workers to address market gaps that restrict access to material and financial resources; by providing
access to international circuits of knowledge and ideas which help individuals gain a foothold in the IT sector, and by facilitating local private-sector provision of the internet through internet cafes which serve the hardest-to-reach populations. The thesis concludes by suggesting potential entry points for ICT4D and migration policy in developing countries regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of ICT4D interventions, the role of the private sector in promoting internet usership, and the role of mobility in building adoption capacity in low-income areas.

There is an inevitable ethnocentrism currently at play in debates about the power of data and the... more There is an inevitable ethnocentrism currently at play in debates about the power of data and the power over data. ‘Global’ data problems and solutions are conceived as beginning and ending in regions with meaningful and enforceable data protection regulation, namely the US, the EU and a small group of other OECD countries tightly bound to these regions by trade, such as Canada. This chapter assesses the problems posed by regulating data markets outside high-income countries, and proposes several directions in which to look for solutions.

We examine the current ‘datafication’ process underway in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs... more We examine the current ‘datafication’ process underway in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the power shifts it is creating in the field of international development. The use of new communications and database technologies in LMICs is generating ‘big data’ (for example from the use of mobile phones, mobile-based financial services and the internet) which is collected and processed by corporations. When shared, these data are also becoming a potentially valuable resource for development research and policy. With these new sources of data, new power structures are emerging within the field of development. We identify two trends in particular, illustrating them with examples: first, the empowerment of public-private partnerships around datafication in LMICs and the consequently growing agency of corporations as development actors. Second, the way commercially generated big data is becoming the foundation for country-level ‘data doubles’, i.e. digital representations of social phenomena and/or territories that are created in parallel with, and sometimes in lieu of, national data and statistics. We explore the resulting shift from legibility (Scott 1998) to visibility, and the implications of seeing development interventions as a byproduct of larger-scale processes of informational capitalism.

This paper examines the ethical and methodological problems with tracking human mobility using da... more This paper examines the ethical and methodological problems with tracking human mobility using data from mobile phones, focusing on research involving low-and middle-income countries. Such datasets are becoming accessible to an increasingly broad community of researchers and data scientists, with a variety of analytical and policy uses proposed. This paper provides an overview of the state of the art in this area of research, then sets out a new analytical framework for such data sources that focuses on three pressing issues: first, interpretation and disciplinary bias; second, the potential risks to data subjects in LMICs and possible ethical responses; and third, the likelihood of 'function creep' from benign to less benign uses. Using the case study of a data science challenge involving West African mobile phone data, I argue that human mobility is becoming legible in new, more detailed ways, and that this carries with it the dual risk of rendering certain groups invisible and of misinterpreting what is visible. Thus this emerging ability to track movement in real time offers both the possibility of improved responses to conflict and forced migration, but also unprecedented power to surveil and control unwanted population movement.

Research on the role of international networking and mobility in technology transfer to developin... more Research on the role of international networking and mobility in technology transfer to developing countries has focused on the firm level, looking at either spillovers from clusters of foreign firms or international trade. However this leaves micro-level processes of adoption in more marginal areas a ‘black box’ – a knowledge gap that is problematic for policymakers because technological inequalities between rich and poor within developing countries suggest that new technologies often fail to spread as hoped. This paper offers empirical evidence on processes of internet access provision and adoption at the micro-level in Ghana, with particular attention to the importance of international mobility as a way for small-scale entrepreneurs, so far a neglected resource in internet penetration policy, to access technological resources and knowledge. Using a mixed methods approach combining fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and social network analysis, this paper argues that international mobility and networking are an important but neglected factor in technology access and adoption, contributing to internet penetration into marginalised areas where usership was previously rare or nonexistent.

Although the terminology of Big Data has so far gained little traction in economics, the availabi... more Although the terminology of Big Data has so far gained little traction in economics, the availability of unprecedentedly rich datasets and the need for new approaches – both epistemological and computational – to deal with them is an
emerging issue for the discipline. Using interviews conducted with a cross-section of economists, this paper examines perspectives on Big Data across the discipline, the new types of data being used by researchers on economic issues, and the range of responses to this opportunity amongst economists. First, we outline the areas in which it is being used, including the prediction and ‘nowcasting’ of economic trends; mapping and predicting influence in the context of marketing; and acting as a cheaper or more accurate substitute for existing types of data such as censuses or labour market data. We then analyse the broader current and potential contributions of Big Data to economics, such as the ways in which econometric methodology is being used to shed light on questions beyond economics, how Big Data is improving or changing economic models, and the kinds of collaborations arising around Big Data between economists and other disciplines.

The use of digital communication technologies, and of mobile phones in particular, has seen an ex... more The use of digital communication technologies, and of mobile phones in particular, has seen an exponential rise in low- and middle-income countries over the last decade. These data, emitted as a byproduct of technologies such as mobile phone location information and calling metadata, have the potential to fill some of the problematic gaps in data resources available to country policymakers and international development organisations. Using three examples of current big data in the international development field, we examine the implications of these new types of data for development policy and planning: their advantages and drawbacks, emerging practices relating to their use, and how they potentially influence ideas and policies of development. We also assess the politics of these new types of digital data, which are often collected and processed by corporations or by researchers in industrialised countries. Our analysis indicates that these new data sources already represent an important complement to country-level statistics, but that there are currently important challenges which will need to addressed if the promises of big data in development are to be fulfilled.

Abstract This paper uses comparative analysis to investigate the relative importance of different... more Abstract This paper uses comparative analysis to investigate the relative importance of different factors in the formation and viability of the internet cafes that are responsible for most local internet access in poor countries. It is based on a study of Ghanaian commercial internet cafes, the majority located in the country's remote northern regions, with a second group of cafes studied in the capital city, Accra.

Challenging ideas -Changing policy ippr | Return migrants in Ghana 2

devents.org.uk

the migration lifecycle for the migrant and the migrant's family back home. We develop an analyti... more the migration lifecycle for the migrant and the migrant's family back home. We develop an analytical model to investigate the way that expectations change and the ability of the migrant and their family to adapt to that change, given differing levels of information. Latent tensions and conflicts emerge where expectations of migrant and migrant families are not harmonious. The evidence shows that the pace of adaptation and change is regulated by 1) access to information; 2), information flow between migrant and destination and home; 3) poverty; and 4) the level of dependency between migrant and home. Due to typically high initial investment in the initial migration as well as the limited, if any, fall-back positions, migrants from poorer families and with many dependents at home have little option but to adapt to situations where expectations exceeded reality. The problems of reintegration upon return for these migrants are very real. Whereas wealthier migrants with more education, less dependents and a range of fall-back positions are more likely to fulfil their 'migration expectations' and less likely to adapt in situations where expectations exceed reality. Return is much less problematic for these migrants. The paper raises policy questions around information access and information flows, community sensitisation and returnee re-integration especially in poorer areas.

Background Paper for Zurich …, Jan 1, 2007

International development and humanitarian organizations are increasingly calling for digital da... more International development and humanitarian organizations are increasingly calling for digital data to be treated as a public good because of its value in supplementing scarce national statistics and informing interventions, including in emergencies. In response to this claim, a ‘responsible data’ movement has evolved to discuss guidelines and frameworks that will establish ethical principles for data sharing. However, this movement is not gaining traction with those who hold the highest-value data, particularly mobile network operators who are proving reluctant to make data collected in low- and middle-income
countries accessible through intermediaries. This paper evaluates how the argument for ‘data as a public good’ fits with the corporate reality of big data, exploring existing models for data sharing. I draw on the idea of corporate data as an ecosystem involving often conflicting rights, duties and claims, in comparison to the utilitarian claim that data’s humanitarian value makes it imperative to share them. I assess the power dynamics implied by the idea of data as a public good, and how differing incentives lead actors to adopt particular ethical positions with regard to the use of data.

Geographies of Urban Governance, 2015

Questions of data and algorithmic analysis saturated the conference at which Dalton and Thatcher ... more Questions of data and algorithmic analysis saturated the conference at which Dalton and Thatcher first called for a Critical Data Studies (Dalton and Thatcher, 2014a). Soon thereafter, Taylor published a response to their original call (Dalton and Thatcher, 2014b) that focused on the spatial nature of data and the need to critically contextualize it (Taylor, 2015a). This was one of multiple beginnings of Critical Data Studies, as it will always be three words cobbled together imperfectly signifying diverse sets of work around data’s recursive relationship to society (c.f. Graham 2014; Kitchin 2014, and elsewhere). We highlight that moment not to claim the concept, but to contextualize the focus of this co-interview. When Taylor published their response to Dalton and Thatcher, she focused on the specifically spatial nature of much data, not only in the content of said data, but also in the need to contextualize from where it originates and is put to use. Data varies across space in a variety of ways: from those included or excluded to those who access said data for analysis, manipulation and (re)presentation.

As the use of digital technologies grows, so too has the potential that we will be read, interpre... more As the use of digital technologies grows, so too has the potential that we will be read, interpreted and targeted for action based on the data we emit. Big Data analytics, however, are frequently focused not on individuals but on the aggregate level, with the aim of targeting interventions at groups according to characteristics such as location or behaviour. Given that the rules and norms that define and limit the power of those who process such data are formulated around notions of individual harm and personal identifiability, the era of big data seems to pose new problems for privacy and data protection. This chapter considers satellite data, mobile phone traces and data practices in smart cities, and asks whether current rules and norms with regard to privacy may need to be extended to consider collective rights and harms.

This thesis focuses on the intersection of human mobility and technology diffusion in Africa. Wit... more This thesis focuses on the intersection of human mobility and technology diffusion in Africa. With Ghana as a case study, it looks at how the diffusion of internet access and use are influenced by international mobility. The research is based in the literature on the diffusion of innovations, international knowledge transmission, migration and development, and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). It begins from the hypothesis that
international mobility may contribute to lowering barriers to internet penetration in developing countries by facilitating flows of resources, including equipment, finance, skills and knowledge.
The research is based on four different datasets: a survey of the internet cafes in the North of Ghana and in Accra; an online survey of users in northern internet cafes; a network study incorporating internet cafe owners and managers in higher-value-added areas of the IT sector, and in-depth interviews with policymakers and donor organisations involved in ICT4D interventions. The data was analysed using a combination of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and
network analytic techniques including visualisation, statistical analysis and qualitative analysis.
The findings show that international mobility makes an important contribution to the base of adoption capacity for new technologies in poor and remote regions. It enables entrepreneurs and IT workers to address market gaps that restrict access to material and financial resources; by providing
access to international circuits of knowledge and ideas which help individuals gain a foothold in the IT sector, and by facilitating local private-sector provision of the internet through internet cafes which serve the hardest-to-reach populations. The thesis concludes by suggesting potential entry points for ICT4D and migration policy in developing countries regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of ICT4D interventions, the role of the private sector in promoting internet usership, and the role of mobility in building adoption capacity in low-income areas.

There is an inevitable ethnocentrism currently at play in debates about the power of data and the... more There is an inevitable ethnocentrism currently at play in debates about the power of data and the power over data. ‘Global’ data problems and solutions are conceived as beginning and ending in regions with meaningful and enforceable data protection regulation, namely the US, the EU and a small group of other OECD countries tightly bound to these regions by trade, such as Canada. This chapter assesses the problems posed by regulating data markets outside high-income countries, and proposes several directions in which to look for solutions.

We examine the current ‘datafication’ process underway in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs... more We examine the current ‘datafication’ process underway in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the power shifts it is creating in the field of international development. The use of new communications and database technologies in LMICs is generating ‘big data’ (for example from the use of mobile phones, mobile-based financial services and the internet) which is collected and processed by corporations. When shared, these data are also becoming a potentially valuable resource for development research and policy. With these new sources of data, new power structures are emerging within the field of development. We identify two trends in particular, illustrating them with examples: first, the empowerment of public-private partnerships around datafication in LMICs and the consequently growing agency of corporations as development actors. Second, the way commercially generated big data is becoming the foundation for country-level ‘data doubles’, i.e. digital representations of social phenomena and/or territories that are created in parallel with, and sometimes in lieu of, national data and statistics. We explore the resulting shift from legibility (Scott 1998) to visibility, and the implications of seeing development interventions as a byproduct of larger-scale processes of informational capitalism.

This paper examines the ethical and methodological problems with tracking human mobility using da... more This paper examines the ethical and methodological problems with tracking human mobility using data from mobile phones, focusing on research involving low-and middle-income countries. Such datasets are becoming accessible to an increasingly broad community of researchers and data scientists, with a variety of analytical and policy uses proposed. This paper provides an overview of the state of the art in this area of research, then sets out a new analytical framework for such data sources that focuses on three pressing issues: first, interpretation and disciplinary bias; second, the potential risks to data subjects in LMICs and possible ethical responses; and third, the likelihood of 'function creep' from benign to less benign uses. Using the case study of a data science challenge involving West African mobile phone data, I argue that human mobility is becoming legible in new, more detailed ways, and that this carries with it the dual risk of rendering certain groups invisible and of misinterpreting what is visible. Thus this emerging ability to track movement in real time offers both the possibility of improved responses to conflict and forced migration, but also unprecedented power to surveil and control unwanted population movement.

Research on the role of international networking and mobility in technology transfer to developin... more Research on the role of international networking and mobility in technology transfer to developing countries has focused on the firm level, looking at either spillovers from clusters of foreign firms or international trade. However this leaves micro-level processes of adoption in more marginal areas a ‘black box’ – a knowledge gap that is problematic for policymakers because technological inequalities between rich and poor within developing countries suggest that new technologies often fail to spread as hoped. This paper offers empirical evidence on processes of internet access provision and adoption at the micro-level in Ghana, with particular attention to the importance of international mobility as a way for small-scale entrepreneurs, so far a neglected resource in internet penetration policy, to access technological resources and knowledge. Using a mixed methods approach combining fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and social network analysis, this paper argues that international mobility and networking are an important but neglected factor in technology access and adoption, contributing to internet penetration into marginalised areas where usership was previously rare or nonexistent.

Although the terminology of Big Data has so far gained little traction in economics, the availabi... more Although the terminology of Big Data has so far gained little traction in economics, the availability of unprecedentedly rich datasets and the need for new approaches – both epistemological and computational – to deal with them is an
emerging issue for the discipline. Using interviews conducted with a cross-section of economists, this paper examines perspectives on Big Data across the discipline, the new types of data being used by researchers on economic issues, and the range of responses to this opportunity amongst economists. First, we outline the areas in which it is being used, including the prediction and ‘nowcasting’ of economic trends; mapping and predicting influence in the context of marketing; and acting as a cheaper or more accurate substitute for existing types of data such as censuses or labour market data. We then analyse the broader current and potential contributions of Big Data to economics, such as the ways in which econometric methodology is being used to shed light on questions beyond economics, how Big Data is improving or changing economic models, and the kinds of collaborations arising around Big Data between economists and other disciplines.

The use of digital communication technologies, and of mobile phones in particular, has seen an ex... more The use of digital communication technologies, and of mobile phones in particular, has seen an exponential rise in low- and middle-income countries over the last decade. These data, emitted as a byproduct of technologies such as mobile phone location information and calling metadata, have the potential to fill some of the problematic gaps in data resources available to country policymakers and international development organisations. Using three examples of current big data in the international development field, we examine the implications of these new types of data for development policy and planning: their advantages and drawbacks, emerging practices relating to their use, and how they potentially influence ideas and policies of development. We also assess the politics of these new types of digital data, which are often collected and processed by corporations or by researchers in industrialised countries. Our analysis indicates that these new data sources already represent an important complement to country-level statistics, but that there are currently important challenges which will need to addressed if the promises of big data in development are to be fulfilled.

Abstract This paper uses comparative analysis to investigate the relative importance of different... more Abstract This paper uses comparative analysis to investigate the relative importance of different factors in the formation and viability of the internet cafes that are responsible for most local internet access in poor countries. It is based on a study of Ghanaian commercial internet cafes, the majority located in the country's remote northern regions, with a second group of cafes studied in the capital city, Accra.

Challenging ideas -Changing policy ippr | Return migrants in Ghana 2

devents.org.uk

the migration lifecycle for the migrant and the migrant's family back home. We develop an analyti... more the migration lifecycle for the migrant and the migrant's family back home. We develop an analytical model to investigate the way that expectations change and the ability of the migrant and their family to adapt to that change, given differing levels of information. Latent tensions and conflicts emerge where expectations of migrant and migrant families are not harmonious. The evidence shows that the pace of adaptation and change is regulated by 1) access to information; 2), information flow between migrant and destination and home; 3) poverty; and 4) the level of dependency between migrant and home. Due to typically high initial investment in the initial migration as well as the limited, if any, fall-back positions, migrants from poorer families and with many dependents at home have little option but to adapt to situations where expectations exceeded reality. The problems of reintegration upon return for these migrants are very real. Whereas wealthier migrants with more education, less dependents and a range of fall-back positions are more likely to fulfil their 'migration expectations' and less likely to adapt in situations where expectations exceed reality. Return is much less problematic for these migrants. The paper raises policy questions around information access and information flows, community sensitisation and returnee re-integration especially in poorer areas.

Background Paper for Zurich …, Jan 1, 2007

The increasing availability of 'data fumes' (Thatcher, 2014) – data produced as a byproduct of pe... more The increasing availability of 'data fumes' (Thatcher, 2014) – data produced as a byproduct of people's use of technological devices and services – has both political and practical implications for the way people are seen and treated by the state and by the private sector. Yet the data revolution is so far primarily a technical one: the power of data to sort, categorise and intervene has not yet been explicitly connected to a social justice agenda. In fact, while data-driven discrimination is advancing at exactly the same pace as data processing technologies, awareness and mechanisms for combating it are not. This paper posits that just as an idea of justice is needed in order to establish the rule of law, an idea of data justice is necessary to determine ethical paths through a datafying world. Based on three proposed pillars of a notion of data justice: (in)visibility, (dis)engagement with technology and antidiscrimination, I propose a vision that integrates positive with negative rights and freedoms. The resulting framework encourages us to debate both the basis of current data protection regulations and the growing assumption that being visible through the data we emit is part of the contemporary social contract.

In 2014 the United Nations called for a ‘data revolution’ to address the inadequate statistics av... more In 2014 the United Nations called for a ‘data revolution’ to address the inadequate statistics available on developing countries (United Nations, 2014). Despite the resources put into evaluating the impact of the MDGs, there is still some way to go even with regard to standard data (Center for Global Development, 2014). Meanwhile, new alternatives to government-produced statistics are emerging. Of the world’s 7 billion mobile phones, 5.5 billion are in LMICs (figure 1), where 2.1 billion people are also online (ITU, 2015a). The Internet of Things promises a landscape of connected objects producing sensor data. This evolution in technology is creating new ways to measure people’s behaviour, interactions and movements, and new collaborations are already emerging around these ‘born-digital’ data – data that are created through people’s use of technology.