What is data colonialism?
A modern form of colonialism where human life and social interactions are extracted as data for profit.
What is being colonized under data colonialism?
The social realm — our relationships, actions, and behaviors that generate data.
Why is data colonialism compared to historical colonialism?
Both involve resource extraction, inequality, and ideologies that justify exploitation
What are the main ideologies that normalize data collection?
Connection, Datafication, Personalization, and Dataism.
ideologies that normalize data collection
Datafication
The process of turning everyday activities into data (e.g., tracking sleep, location, or habits).
ideologies that normalize data collection
personalization
Tailoring content or ads based on data, marketed as convenience but used to extract more information.
ideologies that normalize data collection
dataism
The belief that collecting data about everything is natural, desirable, and inevitable.
Your fitness app tracks your steps, heart rate, and sleep automatically every day.
You think, “Why wouldn’t I track this? It helps me improve my health.”
ideologies that normalize data collection
“ideology of connection”
The idea that being digitally connected is always beneficial, which hides the cost of constant surveillance.
social quantification sector
The industry of businesses that collect, analyze, and profit from data extraction.
How are workers affected by data colonialism?
They are tracked, timed, and evaluated as data points, reducing their work to measurable metrics.
What are four characteristics of historical colonialism?
- Appropriation of resources
- Unequal social/economic relations
- Unequal distribution of profits
- Ideological justification of superiority
historical vs data colonialism
Appropriation → Data extraction
Inequality → Exploitative data relations
Profits → Flow to tech companies
Ideology → Dataism and connection as progress
How do cloud services relate to data colonialism?
They automatically collect and analyze user data, normalizing data extraction
How does AI connect to data colonialism?
AI is trained on vast datasets built from human activity, often without informed consent.
What’s the main goal of a critical approach to technology?
To uncover hidden systems of power and question how digital technologies shape autonomy and social life.
dataveillance
The continuous tracking and monitoring of people’s social actions through data.
What is the “Cloud Empire”?
A global business model built on normalizing the dispossession of people’s data and expanding that model across all social domains.
What is colonialism?
The violent appropriation of land by imperial nations to extract resources and labor from Indigenous populations.
How does coloniality relate to data colonialism?
Data colonialism carries forward colonial logics — domination, resource extraction, and inequality — into the digital age.
What are data relations?
The new type of production relation where social interactions are continuously monitored and turned into data for profit.
