People’s Practices in the Face of Data Power

The shift towards big data-driven decision-making and algorithmic automation across many aspects of everyday life remains a contentious subject of debate and critique. Critical social scientists and media scholars assert that this shift alters the nexus and power relations between state, citizens, and industry. Individuals and communities have little control over how their data are collected and have little to no influence on the algorithmically informed decisions that govern their lives. This chapter addresses power asymmetries that are emerging at this contemporary juncture. The chapter points to possibilities to agency in the data practices, including consent practices, refusal practices, citizen participation (including citizen juries and citizen assemblies), as well as other forms of data activism. In doing so, we aim to contribute to reshaping data power from the bottom up and propose people-centred and radically contextualized approaches to imagining alternative data futures.