In March 2019, I started a new job in the Media and Communication department at the University of Liverpool. My new role involves working on a national data literacy project, called "Me and My Big Data", where I will be working alongside Professor Simeon Yates, Dr Elinor Carmi, and Dr Tamara West.
'Me and My Big Data' project seeks to understand the levels of and variations in UK citizens data literacy, and to develop policy and educational materials to support improving this.Led by Professor Simeon Yates, the outline for this project was developed just before the “Cambridge Analytica” scandal broke. This made clear the extent to which we as citizens are unaware of the uses and abuses to which our data can be put. Improving digital literacy was already a key policy goal of governments worldwide. A key component of citizens digital literacy is an understanding of the uses of their personal data.
Unfortunately, evidence from UK (Ofcom) and USA (Pew) indicates that many citizens have limited understanding of the data they share, its use by organisations, nor basic data protection behaviours. Nor are they aware of how they can utilise publicly available data to undertake both personal and civic action.
This lack of “data literacy” opens citizens up to risks and limits their ability to operate as active citizens in a digital society. Also, evidence is growing of inequalities in data literacy that mirror broader social inequality.
This project will examine and address these issues in four broad ways:
explore through survey data and citizen workshops the extent of citizens’ data literacy
analyse the social basis of variations and inequalities in data literacy across a range of factors
develop training and support materials for schools, universities and third sector groups in order to enhance citizen’s data literacy
develop policy recommendations for stakeholders on enhancing citizen data literacy.
You can find out more about the project by visiting our website or following us on Twitter @meandmybigdata.
