Rethinking Open Data: From Civic Participation to Democratic Defense

My talk critically explores the evolving relationship between open government data, community empowerment, and democratic accountability. Governments increasingly view data as tools of centralized control, efficiency, or even political repression, undermining community trust and participation. Reflecting on cases like the recent IRS-ICE data-sharing controversy in the U.S., I argue that community-driven data initiatives might be called to actively defend democratic values, turning civic monitoring of public action into a crucial safeguard against government misuse of data. Using examples from specific civic monitoring initiatives, I illustrate how practical tools such as data literacy, policy literacy, independent oversight, and organized citizen engagement can be employed as democratic practices to detect, resist, and counteract potential abuses of government data, such as selective disclosure, surveillance, or politically motivated targeting.