What is Data Colonialism?

An overview of "Avoiding the Data Colonization Trap" by Hayden Dahmm and Tom Moultrie from TRENDS.

The term “parachute research” refers to the practice of researchers from the Global North traveling to the Global South to conduct studies and retrieve data, publishing their findings in prestigious journals, and not giving credit to any local collaborators. With parachute research, and the ignorance of it that many from the Global North still obtain, comes the process of “Data Colonialism.”

As data becomes a main aspect of our current world, the divide between the Global North and the Global South widens, allowing data colonialism to foster. This process is characterized by “powerful, data-rich countries and corporations in the Global North [undercutting] capacity development in the Global South by failing to recognize the local contexts.” Northern corporations and powers use the current system of capitalism, driven by big data, to gather personal data globally. Oftentimes, these less-developed nations in the Global South are exploited as many do not have data and privacy protection legislation; about 43% of less-developed countries have them in contrast to 96% of European countries. It is extremely evident that data colonialism is occurring when we look at the US and Chinese influence in African nations, with Facebook expanding internet access through undersea cables, Loon launching balloons over Kenya and Mozambique, and CloudWalk — a Chinese facial recognition company — enhancing surveillance in Zimbabwe in return for AI training. In all of these, there are intentions to expand technology to the Global South, and some are even meant to be purely beneficial. However, this increased dependency on Northern technologies catalyzes environments for “disproportionate influence over economics, politics, and culture” and the marginalization of these Southern areas. With data colonialism comes AI biases, further gaps in data measurements, “politicization of basic facts and official statistics, and … [the] compromise [of] representative democracy throughout the world.”

However, this trend is being analyzed by many critics, and many nations are becoming aware of the increased importance of representation for the Global South in our quickly digitizing world. Many organizations have been developed with the sole purpose of expanding this representation and fighting against parachute research tendencies. Additionally, pieces such as "Southern Theory" by Raewynn Connell dive into the overarching influence of the Global North in current aspects such as the field of sociology and in this case, the digital landscape, and seek to rework this dynamic. The authors of this article highlight many steps to tackle data colonialism and reduce its effects, including adequate funding for national statistical offices, increased local involvement in data management, the establishment of regulations in data and technology use, and the reworking of where data flows once it is collected. As big data corporations seek to monopolize the industry, it is only a matter of time before the role of the Global South diminishes completely if action is not taken. With these steps, the divide between the Global North and South in big data can hopefully decrease, even if at a slow pace, leading to a more connected and equitable future.

Cover image by Kasia Bojanowska on Dribbble.