April 2025

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Data Matters in 2025 Platforms – 1/5

April 20, 2025 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

During election time, I have a tradition to review published political platforms. To date only 3/5 parties have published these as seen below. In 1/5 I review what the Liberal pitch.

  1. Liberal Party of Canada – Canada Strong, Document, website
  2. Bloc Québécois – Choisir le Québec, Document, website
  3. Green Party of Canada – Change, Vote for it, Document, website
  4. Conservative Party of Canada – Canada First for a Change – Document????, website
  5. New Democratic Party of Canada – Made for People, Built for Canada – Document???, website

My methodological process is very rudimentary, guerrilla testing like & expedient: I download the document, I peruse, do a word search for data related matters, take some screen captures & count the incidence of the use of the term & do a cursory assessment of the term is used for some context.

1/5 the Liberal Party of Canada Platform

Here is what I saw in the Liberal Party of Canada, Canada Strong Platform. This is what I look at:

  • openness, followed by
  • mis/disinformation,
  • connectivity,
  • earth observation, followed by
  • data, technology, AI and
  • digital closing with
  • other data & technology related topics
  • full count

Openness

I have been watching openness since the early 2000s, especially during the Harper years (2006-2011) & especially after the cancellation of the long-form Census (2011) and during COVID. Openness was prominent in platforms in 2006 but alas, no it is more. Not even ethics! This is of concern as w/so much new money going into data, digital, AI, Innovation and technology projects, one would think that accountability in terms of procurement and contracting; as is transparency and ethics. It is most disconcerting as the platform mentions reducing ‘red tape’ in terms of technology & digital & AI procurement. Open science, is also absent, odd considering the focus on AI and the 3 main AI centres and the AI Data Act. Science is mentioned in terms of R & D & investment, but alas, not the social sciences (0) and universities were mentioned twice but only Nunangat University and the First Nations University while data science or critical data science education were not discussed. There is also nothing about measuring the impact of investments and related indicators to monitor the progress of decisions.

  • Open Data = 0
  • Open Government = 0
  • Open Science = 0
  • Ethics = 0
  • Indicators = 0
  • Accountability = 2 (w/CBC)
  • Transparency = 4 (w/labeling in supply chains, risk disclosure for energy, corporate taxes & budget)
  • Science = 6 (R&D, investment in startups, research)

Mis/Disinformation & fake news

Mis/Disinformation & fake news have been of concern during elections since Brexit & the Cambridge Analytica Scandal as discussed in the 2018 UK Information Commissioner Office Democracy Disrupted: Personal information and political influence. Elections Canada has also been monitoring the social media information ecosystem for interference as seen in their Democratic Processes–Protecting Against Threats to the Electoral Process. This is such an important sovereignty issue, and considering that sovereignty was mentioned 42 times in the platform. This is what I counted:

  • Social Media = 0
  • Misinformation = 0
  • Data Brokers = 0
  • Ethics = 0
  • AI (the role of) = 0 (even though there is important investment)
  • Disinformation = 2 (w/against US media & tools to track – both CBC)

Connectivity

Connectivity is required to move data, and I would have expected a conversation about communication satellites especially in light of the cancellation of Starlink contracts & conversations of digital sovereignty, high costs, and AI investment & compute needs, but alas only 1 mention of rural broadband, 1 for high speed but in the context of AI, but not internet nor the digital divide. Data centres are mentioned twice but not cloud computing, while AI is mentioned 30 times. How are data supposed to move without infrastructure investment in connectivity with all the new data centres and new monies in this field? In terms of infrastructure only 2 of the 55 mentions, discussed connectivity. Also, what of Indigenous communities and connecting the North, even with addtional EO monitoring and surveillance?

  • Broadband = 1 (rural)
  • Internet = 0
  • Digital Divide = 0
  • Cloud computing = 0
  • High speed = 1 (w/AI)
  • Data Centres = 2 (w/AI, industry)
  • Satellites = 2 (Monitor the North, Monitor the Oceans & w/GPS & Drones)
  • Infrastructure = 55 (53 for hard & social infrastructure, 1 w/digital & 1 high speed)

Earth Observation(EO) w/ Eyes in the sky

Earth Observation w/ Eyes in the sky as in radar and earth observation (EO) satellites are back, they were a political issue in 2017 when the sale of Radarsat to Lockheed Martin was stopped for sovereignty reasons, and now satellites, drones, GPS and radar to monitor borders, coasts, the North, The Arctic, the seas, the air and underwater tool. The remote sensing folks might get a major R & D boost and the platform is mostly about the North.

  • Radar = 2 (w/monitoring the Arctic)
  • Satellites = 2 (Monitor the North, Monitor the Oceans & w/GPS & Drones)
  • Drones = 3 (persistence presence in the Arctic, to survey the seas and boders)

Data & Technology

Data & Technology, data are inseparable from the tools & technologies used to create and generate them and in this platform, arguably most of the big promises involve data and systems to management them, including supply chains and logistics, and of course EO technologies part of these. Here I focus on what was mentioned, not what is implied as Data (15), AI (30), Technology (27) & Digital (12).

  • Data (15) – this is the first time I see data & sovereignty mentioned but limited to monitoring transactions to protect the economy and cross border data exchange, it is also mentioned in terms of sharing & access to health care data where they can follow you regardless of which jurisdiction you are in, the usual suspects such as data storage, data centres, and data analysis for surveillance are mentioned, but also data collection to monitor the environment, & women’s health. There is no mention of data governance, or of a data strategy, nor the means to protect people from the harms of data brokers, AI, mental health apps and so on and no mention of open data!
  • AI (30) – There is no AI without data, thus the surprise at the lack of data governance and a data strategy, but also, there ought to also no AI without ethics! The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) is also not mentioned, but AI in terms of AI military support, surveillance & security, (6), Canadian economy and innovation (3); AI infrastructure, AI-powered data analysis to protect shores, AI to monitor & protect fresh water, AI to support innovation, AI to ensure competitiveness, AI for better service deliverly, AI & Energy, investment in AI training, adoption & commercialization, AI tax incentives, AI to support AI research such as Mila, Vector, Amii (how did they get such an honourable mention?) & AI to grow the ecosystem; AI procurement & a new Office of Digital Transformation, the support for mid-level career AI education, AI & cybersecurity, AI to improve the public service delivery. This is a very technologically solutionist & industry & approach, but not much in the way of AI for wellbeing; there is not discussion of AI & its ecological footprint, & AIDA. The new office of Digital Transformation is of concern as it is about centralizing, speeding up decisions and reducing red tape in terms of AI procurement
  • Technology (27) – although frequently mentioned, it is not so much ICTs, and when it is, it is for advanced R & T and defence BOREALIS; drone fleets; AI tech solutions, fraud detection solutions for CRA, for the public service and water security technology, the rest are green tech, clean tech, carbon storage related tech (3) and as capital investment. The bulk of the technology discussion is surveillance and the military, but it is very nice to see a focus on green tech and clearly AI is tech but they are not mentioned together often.
  • Digital (12) – Here it is about building a digital AI infrastructure, digital supply chains, digital tools for the news, digitalization, digital health, marine digital solutions, digital innovations & patents, improving the public service with a new Office of Digital Transformation to improve the Canadian tech sector but also to reduce red tape, and we know how well that is going in the south!!! .

Other data & technology related topics

Here are frequently mentioned topics that are related to data, but alas, I had to stop somewhere in terms of analysis. It is surprising though that Digital Sovereignty is not a major issue!

  • Climate (28) Supply chain (14), Carbon (20), Net-Zero (2) and of course Sovereignty (42) but not data sovereignty.

The full list in order of the # of mentions in the Liberal Platform.

  • Open Data = 0
  • Open Government = 0
  • Open Science = 0
  • Social Media = 0
  • Cloud computing = 0
  • Data Brokers = 0
  • Digital Divide = 0
  • Ethics = 0
  • Indicators = 0
  • Internet = 0
  • Misinformation = 0
  • Broadband = 1 (rural)
  • Connectivity = 1 (w/electricity)
  • High speed = 1 (w/AI)
  • Data Centres = 2 (w/AI, industry)
  • Disinformation = 2 (w/against US media & tools to track – both CBC)
  • Radar = 2 (w/monitoring the Arctic)
  • Satellites = 2 (Monitor the North, Monitor the Oceans & w/GPS & Drones)
  • Accountability = 2 (w/CBC)
  • Drones = 3 (underwater & air & borders)
  • Transparency = 4 (w/labeling in supply chains, risk disclosure for energy, corporate taxes & budget)
  • Science = 6 (R&D, investment in startups, research)
  • Digital = 12 (see breakdown below)
  • Data = 15 (see breakdown below)
  • Technology = 27 (see breakdown below)
  • Climate = 28 (see breakdown below)
  • Artifical Intelligence (AI) = +/-30 (see breakdown below)
  • Infrastructure = 55 (53 for hard & social infrastructure, 1 w/digital & 1 high speed)
  • New concepts I do not recall ever being so prominent:
    • Climate (28) Supply chain (14), Carbon (20), Net-Zero (2) and of course Sovereignty (42).

That is all for now folks, happy easter!

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Juking the stats, Infrastructural Violence and State Based Database Vandalism

April 16, 2025 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

Legally??? vandalizing national government administrative platforms/enterprise databases/registries by automating falsehoods in a unique identifier (UID) master files that triggers a domino effect that locks people out of essential services and their finances to pressure them to self-deport!

The UID in question is the US social security #, issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to US citizens, permanent residents and temporary working residents. This data driven tactic by DOGE was incredibly simple for any data scientists to see and do while being incredibly deleterious to many. All DOGE data scientists had to do was,

This action delinks/cuts them off/from any service related to that number which maybe anything under the purview of the SSA such as Medicare, benefits, retirement funds, disability support etc. or anything that requires a Social Security as ID such as credit, bank accounts, salary, and more. This is tampering with personal information (PI) and the official records of the state to trigger a domino effect of nefarious and harmful actions. This in effect, terminates the financial lives of those put onto the death list by DOGE.

The SSA is collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security – tagline ‘making America safe again’ and with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Internal Revenue Agency (IRS) that tried to resist but it was futile as it was taken over by DOGE. The proliferation of lists, such as a terrorist watch list, for which there are many, or F.B.I. criminal records list, which one might be on erroneously – think Maher Arar in Canada or Kilmar Ábrego García in the US, or you get on them because DOGE introduce errors. Regardless, even if you are rightly on the naughty list, due process ought to still matter – the US is sounding more like Duterte and other dictators, but alas I digress.

Tampering with ‘master files’ is a no no for data managers, records managers and archivists; these are official records that ought to be accurate, reliable and authentic. Are there copies of these databases? Can they be returned to their original state? Are logs kept in the enterprise systems of actions taken and by whom and when? Even if data were officially archived, the US Archivist has been fired, putting at risk the institution legally and historically authorized to maintain the memory of the nation. Ought the Rule of Law Tools in Post Conflict States for Archives apply? Who would take those records and keep them safe, who would scurry them off to safety?

Colloquially, this is called juking the stats, a term coined by the Wire, whereby the police in the show reclassify violent crimes to be lesser ones to meet their tough on crime targets and the education system in poor performing schools teach to pass tests and not to educate. But that is not strong enough, even though the harms are comperable.

In critical data studies,

From a technical perspective, are linked data and interoperability friends or foe, why is it so easy to for DOGE to get access to the public administration’s enterprise systems and how is that legal?

For a history of the Social Security # and how it was initially resisted, perhaps presciently, read The Known Citizen by Sarah Igo, here is a Harvard Magazine article about her work.

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A stitch in time

April 12, 2025 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

Classes for the 2025 term have ended. A ritual, before each class, 4 classes per year X 12 or 13 weeks, for the last 4 years or so, has been to start with a warmup, where we chat about data in the world, or tek talk in the world, or with an information souk, mostly about things that either relate directly to the day’s topic, or the theme of the class with the odd whimsy in there for good measure. When term ends, I miss creating this weekly roundup. So Here I am, back to the space, where the early days of open data all started, on DataLibre.ca. I will endeavour to do a bit more of this to get the kinks out in terms of writing and to share, as I must say, all the things we critical data studies scholars pointed out, well, are becoming far too real, and this moment ought to be more overtly discussed, so that we do not forget as we build new data systems, and manage the old, and consider what might happen if we do not govern and protect for the wellbeing of people and sentient beings.

To start, today, I came across a knitting clock, it is not a new piece, but one, that materializes time, and there are no data without time. I was once asked if data have an essence, I still think about that question, the best I can do for now is to say that there are many components and attributes to the whole and the parts of the assemblages that constitute data. There is no doubt, however, that time is one of these components, and of course data are data when they are recorded some how, and the database need not be a computer. So I come back with serendipity and whimsy with this lovely piece by Siren Elise Wilhelmsen and her 365 KNITTING CLOCK.

"365 Knitting Clock stitches time as it passes by. It knits 24 hours a day, one year at the time, presenting the physical representation of time as a creative and tangible force. After 365 days the clock has turned the passed year into a two-meter long scarf. Now the past can be carried out into the future and the upcoming year is hiding in a new spool of thread, still unknitted."

Cheerio

Tracey