New article on inequality and public perceptions of datafication by three members of the Living With Data team.

Home > New article on inequality and public perceptions of datafication by three members of the Living With Data team.

6 Mar 2020 NewsPublication

Helen Kennedy, Robin Steedman and Rhia Jones have published an article based on their Signing In project. The article addresses two issues in the field of data studies: 1) a concern with how already socially unequal populations are discriminated against in data-driven systems and 2) interest in public perceptions of datafication, focusing on the relationship between understandings and feelings within these perceptions.

Approaching public perceptions of datafication through the lens of inequality: a case study in public service media has been published in Information, Communication & Society. The paper shows how inequalities relating to age, dis/ability, poverty and their intersections played a role in shaping perceptions and that these social inequalities informed understandings of and feelings about data practices in complex and diverse ways. It concludes with reflections on the significance of these findings for future research and for data-related policy. 

Signing In aimed to explore what diverse audience groups feel about signing in to access BBC services, a process which has recently been rolled out. The research focused on the views of groups that the BBC feels it ‘under-serves’ and other groups that have a history of being socially marginalised in the UK. In qualitative focus group research with 68 participants, Signing In investigated what diverse audiences know and think about: a) the data that they share through signing in; b) about what happens to these data; and c) what should happen to them.