Why sovereignty matters for humanitarian data

Paper by Aaron Martin: “Technological interventions in aid are both complex and deeply ambiguous. Nonetheless, many contemporary controversies surrounding humanitarian data reflect underlying tensions that stem from competing claims over sovereignty. That is, where disputes arise in humanitarian contexts following the unauthorized access to data by a third party, the unconsented sharing of humanitarian data, or the imposition of interoperability requirements on the technical systems of humanitarian agencies, these disputes regularly exhibit deeper concerns about power and authority that go beyond traditional privacy or data protection claims. This article explains the interpretive value of such a sovereignty lens on humanitarian data. To do so, it first provides an overview of how humanitarian data is shared by different actors involved in aid. Then it unpacks the meanings of sovereignty in the humanitarian domain while highlighting the emergence of “pseudo-sovereigns,” that is, actors who assert sovereignty over data in ways that challenge established norms and practices. The analysis reinterprets recent controversies surrounding the collection and sharing of biometrics, namely concerning the Rohingya in Bangladesh, Houthi in Yemen, “double registered” people in Kenya, and as part of the humanitarian response in Ukraine, through a sovereignty lens to demonstrate the utility of this perspective on humanitarian data. To better account for the complexities of power, I encourage scholars to center sovereignty considerations in their analyses of surveillance and privacy in humanitarian innovation…(More)”.