Governance Conflicts and Public Court Records

Abstract

Datafication of society has heavily influenced the way in which we use technology and how technology is designed. Social informatics research illustrates that technology use by diverse groups is not neutral. With the increased usage of technology, critical analysis of data and uses becomes a more significant topic of research. Data governance, as one priority research subarea, varies widely as it is influenced by those who have the power to control it, raising many research questions. With the differences in how data is governed differing across data, what does that mean for data that is used to train models? How do the implications of data governance shape how what is trained? This paper seeks to evaluate that relationship through multi-method content analysis of governance documents regarding data and access to public court records in Illinois and California. It seeks to address the gap in research surrounding ethical impacts of data governance and how those impacts can have larger implications, both positive and negative.