Digital inequalities: contextualizing problems and solutions

Abstract

This issue of JICES is devoted to an increasingly important social problem that has been called the digital divide, digital inequalities and digital inclusion. No matter the name, the social problem remains the same: individuals, groups and collectivities are disenfranchised from the benefits of digital technologies. We open this issue of JICES with an editorial commentary by Simon Rogerson who reminds us that digital divides are not sui generis but are part of larger inequalities. Rogerson pinpoints the crucial linkage between digital divides and larger social divides: “There have always been social divides predicated upon, for example, poverty, education, gender and status”. At the same time, Rogerson reminds us of the importance of those fighting the good fight to create a more just and humane society for all, especially for ordinary people who are “digital outcasts”. The terminology outcast is telling – as much for those suffering from it as for those responsible for it. Indeed, these individuals and groups have been cast out and cast aside by powerful actors, governmental and private, who are unwilling or unable to create digital inclusion for these ordinary people. These ordinary people are worthy of empathy and inclusion simply by virtue of their membership in the greatest collectivity: humanity. With this in mind, we have assembled scholars working to bring the excluded into the fold and problematize the social problem with an eye to solutions across several foci: emergent forms of inequality, health and disability, causes and consequences and finally solutions and responses. We begin our examination with emergent forms of inequality with “Risking Identity: A Case Study of Jamaica’s Short-lived National ID System” by Hopeton S. Dunn. Dunn walks us through how Jamaica was the first country to legislate the use of AI and modern data science to create a national database of the identities of all Jamaican citizens. In 2019, AI and biometric data were being used to reestablish a national identification system. The move was deemed unconstitutional by the Jamaican Supreme Court because of its violation of citizens’ privacy, as well as Jamaica’s Charter of Rights within its constitution. Significantly, Dunn warns that this case study offers insight into new forms of inequality created by the use of biometric data and faulty AI in tandem with inadequate privacy measures to protect sensitive personal data: “The highly intrusive level of biometric data being demanded, the compulsory nature of the plan, criminal sanctions for non-compliance and the absence of adequate technical or legislative safeguards for data protection”. Dunn’s work is an indicator of emergent forms of digital inequality that are complex and increasingly driven by institutions, governments and corporations, whose power is so great that it threatens the autonomy of individuals. The next article also draws our attention to the new power dynamics animating the frontier of digital inequalities research: “Distributed Pool Mining and Digital Inequalities, From Cryptocurrency to Scientific Research” by Hanna Kreitem and Massimo Ragnedda. Exploring the new relationships between consumption and production, Kreitem and Ragnedda make the case that: “The advent of models that reward the use of computer power with value lowers the need for personal data collection vital in the attention economy models [. . .]. In this new revolutionary context, many features and aspects are changing, including the attention Guest editorial