Introduction to Data Cooperatives Syllabus

This syllabus (Version 0.1) is to introduce students to data cooperatives, a membership-based form of data stewardship.

Introduction to Data Cooperatives

Lesson 1: Data Privacy and Ethics issues

Learning Outcomes

This lesson will go over:

• privacy and ethical issues concerning data collection, processing, sharing, and inference by Big Tech and other private companies

• the surveillance advertising business model

• the datafication of online and offline activities

• algorithmic bias and fairness concerns

Required Readings

• There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Location Data by Jon Keegan & Alfred Ng

• Who’s using your face? The ugly truth about facial recognition by Madhumita Murgia

• Data Relations by Salomé Viljoen

• How Surveillance Advertising Seized Our Data and Hijacked the Web by Matthew Crain

• Everyone should decide how their digital data are used — not just tech companies by Jathan Sadowski, Salomé Viljoen & Meredith Whittaker

• ACLU sues facial recognition firm Clearview AI, calling it a ‘nightmare scenario’ for privacy by Nick Statt

• Algorithmic Justice League protests bias in voice AI and media coverage by Khari Johnson

• Auditors are testing hiring algorithms for bias, but there’s no easy fix by Hilke Schellmann

• We Need to Take Back Our Privacy by Zeynep Tufekci

Lesson 2: What is a Data Cooperative?

Learning Outcomes

This lesson will go over:

• how data cooperatives relate to platform cooperatives

• the benefits and drawbacks of data cooperatives

• the structure of data cooperatives

Required Readings

• Exploring legal mechanisms for data stewardship by Ada Lovelace Institute & AI Policy, Chapter 2

• Platform and Data Co-Operatives amidst European Pandemic Citizenship by Igor Calzada, Section 3.2. Taxonomy for Platform and Data Co-operatives

• What Does it Mean? | Shifting Power Through Data Governance by Mozilla Insights, Jonathan van Geuns & Ana Brandusescu, What is a data cooperative?

Lesson 3: The case for Data Cooperatives

Learning Outcomes

This lesson will go over:

• the reasons to develop a data cooperative

• data stewardship issues addressed by data cooperatives

• the relational nature of data

Required Readings

1. Data Cooperatives: Towards a Foundation for Decentralized Personal Data Management by Thomas Hardjono & Alex Pentland

2. A Relational Theory of Data Governance by Salomé Viljoen

3. Potentials and Challenges of the Health Data Cooperative Model by Ilse van Roessela, Matthias Reumann & Angela Branda

4. Platform and Data Co-Operatives amidst European Pandemic Citizenship by Igor Calzada, Section 3.2. Taxonomy for Platform and Data Co-operatives

5. Divya Siddarth: Data Cooperatives Could Give Us More Power Over Our Data by Stanford HAI

6. The Case for Data Cooperatives by Julian Tait

7. Why Your City Should Care About Data Cooperatives by Katya Abazajian

8. Personal Data Cooperatives — A New Data Governance Framework for Data Donations and Precision Health by Ernst Hafen

Lesson 4: Data Cooperative Examples and Resources

Learning Outcomes

This lesson will go over:

• case studies of data cooperatives

• startup process for data cooperatives

• technologies to enable data cooperatives

• conversations from founders of data cooperatives

• the current state of data stewardship

Required Readings

1. How Private Individuals Maintain Privacy and Govern Their Own Health Data Cooperative by Felix Gille & Effy Vayena

2. How Data Coops Protect at the Edge. Thorsten Dittmar, Founder of polypoly — E66 by The Encrypted Economy

3. Episode 014 — Patient-Owned and Aligned Healthcare Platforms with Dr. Jen Horonjeff by The Ownership Economy

4. Principles for Revenue Models of Data Stewardship by Aditi Ramesh & Astha Kapoor

5. Empowering gig workers through data by Aapti Institute

6. State of Data Stewardship by Shefali Girish & Aapti Institute

Lesson 5: Other Data Stewardship Approaches

Learning Outcomes

This lesson will go over:

• data trusts

• data marketplaces

• data commons

• data fiduciary

• data collaboratives

• indigenous data sovereignty

Required Readings

• Exploring legal mechanisms for data stewardship by Ada Lovelace Institute & AI Policy, Chapters 1 and 3

• What Does it Mean? | Shifting Power Through Data Governance by Mozilla Insights, Jonathan van Geuns & Ana Brandusescu