African Data Ethics: A Discursive Framework for Black Decolonial Data Science

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Barrett, Teanna, Okolo, Chinasa T., Biira, B., Sherif, Eman, Zhang, Amy X., Battle, Leilani
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Barrett, Teanna
Okolo, Chinasa T.
Biira, B.
Sherif, Eman
Zhang, Amy X.
Battle, Leilani
author_facet Barrett, Teanna
Okolo, Chinasa T.
Biira, B.
Sherif, Eman
Zhang, Amy X.
Battle, Leilani
contents The shift towards pluralism in global data ethics acknowledges the importance of including perspectives from the Global Majority to develop responsible data science practices that mitigate systemic harms in the current data science ecosystem. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) practitioners, in particular, are disseminating progressive data ethics principles and best practices for identifying and navigating anti-blackness and data colonialism. To center SSA voices in the global data ethics discourse, we present a framework for African data ethics informed by the thematic analysis of an interdisciplinary corpus of 50 documents. Our framework features six major principles: 1) Challenge Power Asymmetries, 2) Assert Data Self-Determination, 3) Invest in Local Data Institutions & Infrastructures, 4) Utilize Communalist Practices, 5) Center Communities on the Margins, and 6) Uphold Common Good. We compare our framework to seven particularist data ethics frameworks to find similar conceptual coverage but diverging interpretations of shared values. Finally, we discuss how African data ethics demonstrates the operational value of data ethics frameworks. Our framework highlights Sub-Saharan Africa as a pivotal site of responsible data science by promoting the practice of communalism, self-determination, and cultural preservation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_16043
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle African Data Ethics: A Discursive Framework for Black Decolonial Data Science
Barrett, Teanna
Okolo, Chinasa T.
Biira, B.
Sherif, Eman
Zhang, Amy X.
Battle, Leilani
Computers and Society
The shift towards pluralism in global data ethics acknowledges the importance of including perspectives from the Global Majority to develop responsible data science practices that mitigate systemic harms in the current data science ecosystem. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) practitioners, in particular, are disseminating progressive data ethics principles and best practices for identifying and navigating anti-blackness and data colonialism. To center SSA voices in the global data ethics discourse, we present a framework for African data ethics informed by the thematic analysis of an interdisciplinary corpus of 50 documents. Our framework features six major principles: 1) Challenge Power Asymmetries, 2) Assert Data Self-Determination, 3) Invest in Local Data Institutions & Infrastructures, 4) Utilize Communalist Practices, 5) Center Communities on the Margins, and 6) Uphold Common Good. We compare our framework to seven particularist data ethics frameworks to find similar conceptual coverage but diverging interpretations of shared values. Finally, we discuss how African data ethics demonstrates the operational value of data ethics frameworks. Our framework highlights Sub-Saharan Africa as a pivotal site of responsible data science by promoting the practice of communalism, self-determination, and cultural preservation.
title African Data Ethics: A Discursive Framework for Black Decolonial Data Science
topic Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.16043