Talk on Mobile Data Integrity

Yesterday I spoke on a panel about mobile data integrity. The idea was to have a conversation about how international development projects using mobile phones for data collection can ensure that the integrity of the data they collect isn’t compromised in any way. Many people in the information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) community are focused on security challenges related to technology: phones that can be remotely wiped, devices that help you avoid government detection, and so on. These are hard engineering problems and deserve attention from computer scientists right now.

At the same time, there are many use cases where people are implementing these projects in contexts that aren’t politically or socially repressive, where they aren’t necessarily under surveillance or participating in anti-government protests. They need guidance on how to implement their projects safely, guidance on how to use today’s tools right now.

During the discussion I focused on how to think about data integrity during program design, training, and implementation. A few key themes from the talk:

1. Design for openness: begin the design process with the default position of open. Taking this approach will force hard questions about what should be protected, what can be in the public domain, and so on.
2. Find the right partners: select partners that have a genuine stake in the outcome of your program. An MoU or partnership agreement will help lock up organizations and teams, but at the end of the day you want partners that understand your long term objectives and take the integrity of your data as seriously as you do.
3. Expose your data: use today’s wide variety of free and open tools to expose and visualize as much data as you can. You’ll spot patterns, uncover vulnerabilities, find mistakes, and catalyze action.
4. Document everything: define terms, document processes, describe everything from the workflow to the icons. This is critical for the longterm sustainability of the project.
5. Iterate: don’t stop improving. The best actors in the software development / web development communities relentlessly improve their products. International development should take M&E a step further by importing this mentality and continuously surface and improve their projects.

More below. Audio to be released in the future via FrontlineSMS and Internews.

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Category: commentary, international development

Tags: FrontlineSMS, ICT, ICT4D, international development, Internews, mobile phones, mobiles, SAIS