Exercises: Global South Perspectives on Data Governance

These exercises progress from concept checks to challenging applications. Estimated completion time: 3-4 hours.

Difficulty Guide: - ⭐ Foundational (5-10 min each) - ⭐⭐ Intermediate (10-20 min each) - ⭐⭐⭐ Challenging (20-40 min each) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Advanced/Research (40+ min each)

Part A: Conceptual Understanding ⭐

Test your grasp of core concepts from Chapter 37.

A.1. Define "data colonialism" as discussed in Section 37.1. How does it differ from, and connect to, historical colonialism? Identify two specific mechanisms through which data colonialism operates in the contemporary digital economy.

A.2. Explain the concept of "digital extractivism." How does it parallel resource extraction in the physical world? Provide one example from the chapter.

A.3. What is India's Aadhaar system? Describe its three core functions (identity, authentication, and service delivery). Why is it considered both a governance innovation and a surveillance risk?

A.4. Compare the African Union's Data Policy Framework with the EU's GDPR. What similarities exist? Where does the AU framework diverge, and what contextual factors explain those differences?

A.5. Define "leapfrogging" in the context of data governance. Provide one example of a Global South country or region that has leapfrogged a problematic Western governance pattern. What conditions enabled that leapfrog?

A.6. Explain the concept of "infrastructure dependency" as it applies to data governance in the Global South. Why does dependency on platforms and cloud infrastructure headquartered in the Global North create governance vulnerabilities?

A.7. What is Brazil's Lei Geral de Protecao de Dados (LGPD)? How does it compare to the GDPR in scope, enforcement, and the political context of its implementation?

Part B: Applied Analysis ⭐⭐

Analyze scenarios, arguments, and real-world situations using concepts from Chapter 37.

B.1. A major US technology company offers free cloud computing services to a national government in Sub-Saharan Africa for managing health records. The government receives significant technological capability it could not afford to build independently. The company gains access to millions of health records and stores them on servers located in the United States. Analyze this arrangement using the concept of data colonialism. Who benefits? What governance risks exist? What alternative arrangements could provide the technological capability without the extractive dynamics?

B.2. Section 37.3 describes India's "digital public infrastructure" model — Aadhaar, UPI (Unified Payments Interface), and DigiLocker — as a stack that other countries are studying and in some cases replicating. Analyze the export of India's DPI model to a hypothetical East African country. What benefits might it provide? What risks emerge from transplanting a governance model from one context to another?

B.3. Sofia Reyes argues that surveillance at the US-Mexico border is an instance of data governance that connects the Global North and Global South. Analyze border surveillance using the six-question framework from Chapter 1. How does the power asymmetry operate at the border? Who benefits from border data collection, and who bears the risk?

B.4. A data cooperative is established by smallholder farmers in Kenya to collectively manage agricultural data — soil conditions, weather patterns, crop yields, market prices — that is currently collected and monetized by international agribusiness companies. Analyze this cooperative using Elinor Ostrom's eight principles for commons governance (introduced in Chapter 39). Which principles does the cooperative need to address most urgently?

B.5. An international development organization proposes a data governance capacity-building program for four African countries. The program would train government officials in GDPR-style data protection, establish independent data protection authorities, and fund technology for compliance monitoring. Critique this program design. What assumptions does it make about the transferability of Western governance models? What alternative approaches might be more appropriate?

B.6. India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act exempts government agencies from many of its provisions, including some consent and data minimization requirements. Analyze this exemption from two perspectives: (a) the government's argument that exemptions are necessary for effective governance and public service delivery, and (b) civil society's argument that government exemptions undermine the law's legitimacy and enable surveillance.

Part C: Real-World Application Challenges ⭐⭐-⭐⭐⭐

These exercises require investigation of current developments in Global South data governance.

C.1. ⭐⭐ Regulatory Landscape Mapping. Select one Global South country not discussed in depth in the chapter (e.g., Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Argentina, Thailand, Egypt). Research its current data protection framework. Write a one-page briefing covering: (a) the applicable legislation, (b) the data protection authority (if one exists), (c) cross-border data flow rules, (d) enforcement mechanisms, and (e) the political context shaping data governance.

C.2. ⭐⭐ Infrastructure Dependency Audit. Identify three major digital platforms or cloud services used by organizations in a Global South country of your choice (e.g., government agencies using AWS, schools using Google Classroom, health systems using Microsoft Azure). For each, determine: (a) where user data is stored, (b) which jurisdiction's law governs that data, (c) what data sovereignty concerns arise, and (d) what local alternatives exist (if any).

C.3. ⭐⭐⭐ Data Cooperative Design. Design a data cooperative for a specific Global South community (e.g., fishers in Southeast Asia, artisans in West Africa, rideshare drivers in Latin America). Your design should address: (a) what data is pooled, (b) how governance decisions are made, (c) how revenue from data is distributed, (d) how the cooperative interacts with existing platforms and regulators, and (e) what challenges the cooperative will face. Present your design in a one-page proposal.

C.4. ⭐⭐⭐ Aadhaar Impact Assessment. Research two published analyses of India's Aadhaar system — one that emphasizes its benefits and one that emphasizes its risks. Summarize each analysis in 200 words, then write a 300-word synthesis that identifies where the analyses agree, where they disagree, and what evidence would be needed to resolve the disagreements.

Part D: Synthesis & Critical Thinking ⭐⭐⭐

These questions require you to integrate multiple concepts from Chapter 37 and earlier chapters.

D.1. The chapter argues that data governance frameworks developed in the Global North may not be appropriate for the Global South. But some scholars argue that "context-specific" governance can be used to justify lower standards of data protection in countries with less regulatory capacity. How should this tension be navigated? Write a 400-word analysis that acknowledges both the legitimate need for contextual adaptation and the risk of instrumentalizing "context" to justify weaker protections.

D.2. Connect data colonialism (Chapter 37) to the history of data and power discussed in Chapter 2 and the political economy of data discussed in Chapter 5. In what specific ways does contemporary data extraction from the Global South replicate the patterns of colonial-era resource extraction? Where does the analogy break down? Write a synthesis (300-500 words).

D.3. Apply the four-thread diagnostic (Power Asymmetry, Consent Fiction, Accountability Gap, Ethical Debt) to the relationship between a major platform company (e.g., Meta, Google, or Amazon) and the populations it serves in a specific Global South country. For each thread, identify a concrete manifestation. Which thread is most acute in the Global South context, and why?

D.4. Section 37.5 discusses "leapfrogging" as a possibility for Global South countries. But leapfrogging requires specific conditions: political will, institutional capacity, and alternatives that are both technically viable and economically sustainable. Identify one area of data governance where leapfrogging is most feasible and one where it is least feasible. Explain your reasoning.

Part E: Research & Extension ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Open-ended projects for students seeking deeper engagement.

E.1. Aadhaar Deep Dive. Research the legal and political history of India's Aadhaar system, including the Supreme Court's Puttaswamy decision (2017) and the subsequent DPDP Act (2023). Write a 1,200-word analysis covering: (a) the system's design and scope, (b) the documented benefits (financial inclusion, service delivery), (c) the documented harms (exclusion errors, surveillance risks, identity theft), (d) the legal framework governing the system, and (e) the governance lessons for other countries considering similar digital identity systems.

E.2. African Data Governance Comparative Study. Compare the data governance frameworks of three African countries (e.g., Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana). Write a 1,000-word comparative analysis covering: (a) the legislative framework, (b) the data protection authority, (c) the treatment of cross-border data flows, (d) the influence of international models (GDPR, AU framework), and (e) distinctive features that reflect local context.

E.3. Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance. Research the concept of indigenous data sovereignty, including the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance and examples from indigenous communities in the Global South (e.g., Maori data sovereignty in New Zealand, indigenous data governance in Latin America). Write a 1,000-word report analyzing how indigenous data governance models challenge the assumptions of Western data governance frameworks.

Solutions

Selected solutions are available in appendices/answers-to-selected.md.