Data & Society Logo Data & Society Logo

Home

Data & Society studies the social implications of data-centric technologies & automation.

Our Research

We produce original research on topics including AI and automation, the impact of technology on labor and health, and online disinformation.

Explore our research
Subscribe to our newsletter | Follow us on Twitter | Attend our events
Donate to Data & Society

The Latest from Data & Society

Databite No. 141
Digital Technology and Democratic Theory
How is technology radically changing our lives as citizens and participants in democratic governments? Join Data & Society and Stanford PACS for a special book launch.
January 21, 2021 | 1 - 2:15 p.m. ET
Now Hiring
Researcher, Health and Data
This Researcher will study workers' perspectives and experiences of infection-related health monitoring, surveillance and data collection in frontline and high-risk workplaces.
Apply by January 31, 2021
Video, Podcast, Event
Governing an Algorithm in the Wild
Watch, listen to, or read the transcript from Databite No. 140, in which David Robinson uses a healthcare algorithm as a case study to discuss algorithmic governance.
David Robinson and Alex Rosenblat
Databite No. 141
Digital Technology and Democratic Theory
January 21, 2021 | 1 - 2:15 p.m. ET
Now Hiring
Researcher, Health and Data
Apply by January 31, 2021
Video, Podcast, Event
Governing an Algorithm in the Wild
David Robinson and Alex Rosenblat

About Us

Data & Society is an independent nonprofit research organization. We believe that empirical evidence should directly inform the development and governance of new technology. We study the social implications of data-centric technologies and automation, producing original research that can ground informed, evidence-based public debate.

We combine academic rigor with creative outreach to connect, convene, and sustain expert and practitioner networks. Since 2014, Data & Society has defined the field with original research and programming to break down disciplinary silos and connect provocative thinkers across sectors. Read more

Spotlights

Technology and the Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Data & Society has brought together voices on topics such as health misinformation, low-wage and gig economy workers, and racial disparities in COVID-19's impact, reporting, and analyses.

Essay
New Digital Infrastructures of Workplace Health and Safety
Aiha Nguyen discusses the state of workplace surveillance as a result of COVID-19.
Blog Post
Understanding medical uncertainty in the hydroxychloroquine debate
Smitha Khorana and Kellie Owens explain how social media companies arbitrate health information.
Event, Video
The Fact of Blackness
Kenyon Farrow and Tamara K. Nopper discuss strategies for demanding & using race-focused data during the pandemic.

Engaging Industry

What responsibility do tech companies have to the public interest? Data & Society researchers provide new frameworks to foreground ethics and equity in the design and development of new technologies.

Report
Good Intentions, Bad Inventions
Amanda Lenhart and Kellie Owens dismantle four common myths about our relationship to technology.
Report
Ethics Owners
Emanuel Moss and Jacob Metcalf present a new model of organizational responsibility in data-driven tech companies.
Blog Post
Looking for Race in Tech Company Ethics
Emanuel Moss and Jacob Metcalf identify where race and tech ethics intersect.

Race and Equity

Data & Society is committed to advancing racial equity in the design and governance of emerging technologies. Our work ranges from suggesting strategies to promote racial literacy and anti-racism in tech, to critiquing frameworks that forgo the lens of racial justice.

Report
Advancing Racial Literacy in Tech
Jessie Daniels, Mutale Nkonde, and Darakhshan Mir urge tech companies to adopt racial literacy practices in order to break out of old patterns.
Review
Sounding the Flat Alarm
Sareeta Amrute reviews Shoshana Zuboff's "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism."
Article
Those designing healthcare algorithms must become actively anti-racist
Kellie Owens and Alexis Walker list steps to enable anti-racist practices in medical research and practice.