Learning Lab with Aapti Institute | Data Sharing and Stewardship
- Most nonprofits collect and use data to drive social change. This data is often shared both internally and externally with partners, beneficiaries, and research organizations. In this context, the ethical management of data becomes crucial.
- While data is a powerful tool with many possibilities for impact, there are also many instances where it has been misused, to the detriment of communities.
- For individuals and communities, several risks can emerge from the irresponsible governance of data. These include physical or psychological harm, discrimination, denial of services, and infringement of human rights, among others.
- COVID-19 has increased the dependence on data and technology, be it in the form of collecting sensitive health data, or information to provide humanitarian assistance. Now more than ever, it is necessary for nonprofit organizations to play an active role in protecting the data rights of the people who generate this data.
- Emerging regulations such as the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 and the Non Personal Data Policy, 2021 also place the responsibility of data protection on nonprofits.
- Many nonprofits are thinking about these issues actively. They shared some of the measures they take to protect the data of their beneficiaries, such as de-identifying data by removing the names and addresses of individuals and allocating number codes instead. However, there are also a number of issues and challenges that they are facing, especially when it comes to sharing data with external partners such as governments or donors.
- Data stewardship is one way of delivering value of data back to communities, while also ensuring that they have a say in the decision-making process. Simply understood, data stewards are trustworthy, independent intermediaries who act as a link between the generators and users of data. In doing this, they can advocate for the data rights of individuals and communities, securely collect and store data, enable participation, and provide mechanisms for grievance redressal, among other things.
- Nonprofits can play the role of data stewards drawing on different models of data stewardship such as data cooperatives (which are analogous to cooperative enterprises) and data collaboratives (where multiple stakeholders come together to share data for a common purpose).
- Becoming a responsible steward requires nonprofits to consider multiple aspects of the data they collect and store. For example: What purpose is the data being used for? Is it necessary to collect this data? Who is the data being shared with? To help nonprofits think through and make some of these decisions, Aapti Institute has drawn on their research to create tools such as an interactive Stewardship Mapper, as well as a Stewardship Navigator.
In this age of information, data is everywhere. It shapes how we eat, what we watch, how we buy, and even how we vote. A double-edged sword, data has the potential to bring about tremendous transformative change when used correctly, as well as amplify existing inequalities when it is misused.
As civil society organizations in India increasingly use data to drive action and create impact, how do they ensure that this data is not used to disenfranchise individuals and communities? How should nonprofits use the data they collect to create value for communities? What are ways in which data can be managed and shared responsibly and equitably by organizations?
In this interactive session, Suha Mohamed from Aapti Institute tackles these questions and more. She discusses some of the privacy and data challenges that nonprofits face, and introduces the idea of data stewardship as one way of ensuring data is collected and used in a way that protects and empowers communities. Aapti Institute is a research organization working at the intersections of technology and society and this closed-door session draws on research and insights from their work around building an equitable data economy.
As civil society organizations in India increasingly use data to drive action and create impact, how do they ensure that this data is not used to disenfranchise individuals and communities? How should nonprofits use the data they collect to create value for communities? What are ways in which data can be managed and shared responsibly and equitably by organizations?
In this interactive session, Suha Mohamed from Aapti Institute tackles these questions and more. She discusses some of the privacy and data challenges that nonprofits face, and introduces the idea of data stewardship as one way of ensuring data is collected and used in a way that protects and empowers communities. Aapti Institute is a research organization working at the intersections of technology and society and this closed-door session draws on research and insights from their work around building an equitable data economy.