Artists, cultural institutions and their associated communities rely on personal data, and data-driven tools to stay in touch and create change: whether publishing voices through social media, creating event spaces and demonstrations, or maintaining a community online.

While the collection of personal data can be essential to some elements of their work, organisations and networks have to navigate various concerns such as privacy, security, and technical expertise. Moreover, there are concerns regarding the values of the organisations that run these tools (Facebook and Google, among others) and the extent to which they are profit-driven and encourage the reduction of human agency to algorithms. These values may be different from those which artists and cultural institutions want for now and for the future. Participants will consider a practical framework for how best to engage with personal data in their every day work in a way that is aligned with their own social values. This session will move away from the dry and technical language of data guidelines.

Participants will carry out a series of playful exercises, reflections and discussions which examine how they use and interact with their own and others‘ personal data. The group will discuss the different areas in which personal data arises in their work, debate the different risks and benefits, and develop questions which can guide their own responsible use of data. By the end, participants will have a template for their own data policy. [Workshop in English]

With respect to privacy and data protection, our workshops were not recorded.