DATA UNION discussion group/worklab

Data Union is a project by The Analogue Group. It aims to create a viral union of data refugees, whose only possession is their data, as an experiment in everyday life, that is, as a laboratory of innovation for the autonomous use of data in local contexts globally networked.

These data unions will add value to contemporary movements of ecological, economic, racial, and gender equality in three specific ways:

1. To work with groups to understand contemporary regimes of copyright, and open data movements.

2. To develop a political analysis of the data-yielding activities of their communities, groups, and organisations.

3. To develop a collective, creative, and democratic response to the social, economic, and cultural implications of Big Data and to fully leverage the value of that data in the interests of democracy, equality, and justice. More here: http://dataunion.org.uk

We'd like to spread the word about Data Union beyond London where current activities are situated. An afternoon of discussion examining efficacy of everyday behavioural tactics relating to data, surveillance and autonomy to enable anonymity, data disruption and pollution, autonomous organisation, value negotiation.

If time allows, we propose to test the Open Mustard Seed (OMS) Framework, a project by researchers, developers and entrepreneurs, primarily from Harvard and MIT and the Boston Community that seems to bridge a gap to developing autonomy in data retention, monetisation and eventual strike.

The Open Mustard Seed project is an open-source framework for developing and deploying web apps in a secure, user-centric personal cloud.

The framework provides a stack of core technologies that work together to provide a high level of security and ease of use when sharing and collecting personal and environmental data, controlling web-enabled devices, and engaging with others to aggregate information and view the results of applied computation via protected services.