Open Data Labs - Web Foundation

  • Labs
  • Blog
  • Projects
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
  • English
    • Indonesia

Gender must be central to the data protection conversation, not a side note

February 12, 2018 by Open Data Labs Leave a Comment

This post was written by Ana Brandusescu, Web Foundation Research & Policy Officer and originally appears on the Web Foundation news. Follow her on Twitter at @anabmap. Photo © Daniel Friedman, CC BY-NC 2.0.

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference in Brussels. Discussions at the conference covered a wide range of important digital issues — from cybersecurity and metadata protections, to e-privacy legislation and the impending enforcement of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Notably absent from these conversations, however, was a theme critical to each of these issues: gender.

Though the link between these topics and gender might not appear obvious at first glance, gender plays a significant role in the design and implementation of technology, online privacy, and data protection. In turn, how technology is deployed, how online privacy is protected, and how data is collected and used all impact women differently than men.

Again, I wonder, how can we ensure that gender is integrated in all areas that we work in, across research and policymaking?

Gender needs to be a part of the privacy and data protection discourse, not a side note.

The session I spoke in, Gendered Data Bodies, was the only session to make a direct link between data and gender. We discussed a range of interesting issues at the intersection of data and gender — from menstrual-tracker apps and the data privacy implications of their use for women, to the ability of women to privately access information about sexual and reproductive health online. However, these important conversations need to be incorporated in every field, not siloed to a single gender-focused panel. To build an inclusive digital world, the intersection of gender and data must be pursued across AI, algorithms, blockchain, privacy and data protection.

Gender has many nuances, for many different groups.

There are divides between women who do work on gender, and women who work in tech fields who never mention the word gender. To have these two groups at the opposite side of the same spectrum may not always be constructive, particularly if one group is just talking about gender, while the other one is negating it all together. We must work to bring these groups together, and incorporate women and a gendered perspective to conversations across the spectrum. Moreover, we must work to include a wide range of women’s voices and perspectives in these efforts — an all-white female panel doesn’t support intersectionality in gender (cough cough, WEF).

The non-usual suspects need a place and a voice at the table.

Data politics are not neutral. Not on a technological level, nor on a socio-economic or socio-cultural level. Everything from data collection, design of data-driven instruments, and data interpretation must — once and for all — acknowledge the gendered dynamics at play. We need to go beyond women groups and women spaces, or we will end up siloing ourselves. To make this shift, government officials working in policy of all kinds (not just on gender issues) need to partake in these discussions and offer their expertise. ‘Buy-in’ and support from the top at various institutions (global, national, regional or local) is also key. Only by widening these conversations — and ensuring women are included in the process — can we create gender-responsive privacy and data protection legislation.

 

At the Web Foundation, we actively work to deliver gender-responsive policy solutions to leaders and to amplify women’s voices across ICT policymaking processes around the world. I hope you’ll join us in bringing a gendered perspective to discussions across the ICT space, and to consider the way gendered data bodies influence the power dynamics at work in both our online and offline worlds.

 

For updates on our work, follow us on Twitter at @webfoundation and sign up to receive our email newsletters.

Filed Under: Blog, Events, Gender-Inclusive Development, Web Foundation Tagged With: gender data, gender development, inclusion, women and tech

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Archives

  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014

Jln. Kudus No. 3, Menteng, Jakarta 10310           @ODLabJkt           Open Data Lab Jakarta           Open Data Lab Jakarta          Privacy Policy


© 2008–2023 World Wide Web Foundation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.