Data & Society Research Institute

Data & Society Research Institute
Name	Data & Society Research Institute
Formation	2014
Founders	Amanda Cox; danah boyd
Type	Research institute
Headquarters	New York City
Fields	Technology studies; social policy; ethics

Data & Society Research Institute

Data & Society Research Institute is an independent research organization that studies the social implications of data-centric and automated technologies, and their intersections with policy, law, and culture. The institute conducts interdisciplinary research, convenes stakeholders from civil society, academia, and industry, and produces reports and public programs that inform debates involving privacy, surveillance, algorithmic bias, and digital labor. Its work engages with a range of actors and institutions across the United States and internationally.

History

Founded in 2014, the institute emerged amid debates sparked by high-profile incidents such as Edward Snowden, PRISM, Wikileaks, Cambridge Analytica, Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal, and the expansion of commercial platforms led by Google LLC, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Apple Inc.. Early leadership included scholars and practitioners connected to Microsoft Research, New York University, Harvard University, MIT Media Lab, and Columbia University, reflecting networks that also encompassed Mozilla Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, OpenAI, and National Science Foundation. Milestones in the institute’s timeline intersect with policy developments such as the GDPR, rulings from the United States Supreme Court, and legislative agendas pursued by the United States Congress and state legislatures on issues similar to the California Consumer Privacy Act. The institute’s public programs responded to crises and cultural moments involving actors like Uber Technologies, Airbnb, YouTube, Tesla, Inc., and debates following investigations by outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Wired.

Mission and Research Focus

The institute’s mission foregrounds the social, ethical, and political impacts of data-intensive technologies, building on intellectual traditions from Science and Technology Studies, scholarship by figures associated with Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford University, Princeton University, Yale University, and policy frameworks promoted by UNESCO, OECD, and Council of Europe. Research topics include algorithmic accountability involving cases like COMPAS, facial recognition controversies linked to Clearview AI, platform labor practices exemplified by Delivery drivers and gig work at Lyft, and misinformation dynamics studied in contexts such as 2016 United States presidential election and 2018 Brazilian general election. The institute frames these topics alongside legal instruments such as Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Civil Rights Act of 1964, and regulatory debates influenced by actors like FTC and European Commission.

Research Programs and Projects

The institute runs programs that convene researchers, technologists, journalists, and policymakers from institutions including Brookings Institution, Berkman Klein Center, RAND Corporation, Center for Democracy & Technology, and Brooklyn Law School. Projects have examined topic areas such as surveillance and policing practices related to DHS, predictive analytics used by agencies like Internal Revenue Service, labor and automation questions aligned with studies at International Labour Organization, and educational technologies impacting constituents of ED. Collaborative initiatives have involved partners like Mozilla Corporation, Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Technology Fund, and research labs at Carnegie Mellon University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Washington, and University of Oxford.

Publications and Reports

The institute publishes reports, white papers, and briefing notes that receive attention from outlets such as The Atlantic, Vox, ProPublica, and policy actors including United Nations, European Parliament, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Notable outputs have addressed topics comparable to analyses by RAND Corporation on autonomous systems, critiques of algorithmic risk assessment related to ProPublica investigations, and surveys of public sentiment akin to work by Pew Research Center. Publications often draw on methods used in projects at Gates Foundation-funded initiatives, and reference standards considered by ISO (International Organization for Standardization), IEEE, and professional associations such as the Association for Computing Machinery and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Partnerships and Funding

Funding and partnerships have spanned philanthropic organizations including MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, Ford Foundation, Knight Foundation, and corporate donors from the technology sector such as Google.org and philanthropic arms of Microsoft Corporation and Facebook Inc.. The institute has collaborated on grants and fellowships with academic partners including Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, and philanthropic consortia organized by entities such as Open Society Foundations and Russell Sage Foundation. Partnerships also extend to advocacy groups like Electronic Frontier Foundation, ACLU, Media Matters for America, and international bodies such as UNICEF and World Economic Forum.

Governance and Staff

Governance has included a board and leadership featuring academics, technologists, and philanthropic figures affiliated with Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, Stanford School of Engineering, and think tanks including Brookings Institution and New America. Senior staff and fellows have come from backgrounds at Microsoft Research, Google Research, Mozilla Foundation, ProPublica, The New York Times, and university departments such as University of Pennsylvania, Stanford Law School, and Berkeley School of Information. Visiting scholars, postdoctoral fellows, and research associates have included contributors associated with ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, NeurIPS, ICLR, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, and policy fora like CES and meetings of the European Commission.

Category:Research institutes in the United States