Social data governance: From reflective practices to comparative synthesis

Abstract

This special theme brings together reflections and deliberations regarding the design, implementation, and development of data governance. By addressing “social data governance” as the keyword of the special theme, we aim to further the discussion on a contextual understanding of both the governing foundations and effects of data, dataism, and datafication in different societies. Such a discussion reminds us to pay particular attention to—and thus account for—the social dynamics that underpin and contextualize the design, operation, and promotion of quantified governing mechanisms in which information on social behaviors is collected, datafied, manipulated, and represented. Essentially, the social dynamics of data governance have existed for a long time and in many forms, ranging from credit bureaus’ scrutiny, evaluation, and labeling of their customers to internet-enabled massive data collection and scoring systems used by governments, and to automated contact tracing techniques as a centerpiece of dataveillance and infection control amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, scholarly work from a wide range of disciplines like law, mathematics, and business and with diverse geographical foci has not yet been comparatively and reflectively articulated. Being rich and diverse, the special theme advances such a requisite understanding of the status and relevance of social dynamics of data governance mechanisms based on a wide range of empirical cases around the globe. To scrutinize the social dynamics helps illuminate and contrast divergent manifestations of data governance and their underlying mechanisms.