“…This shift from words to data certainly has problematic aspects as well, such as the implicit assumption that data is neutral. This is, of course, not the case – similar to the written word, statistics and visualizations come with their own set of rhetorical instruments. Identifying biases in data collection, classification, and representation require a new visual literacy that has to keep up with the torrent of ever-new visualization techniques.
As data visualization or visual analytics emerge as a new language for talking about public space, it is important to recognize the contribution of media art to articulating the new language of digital information and its physical embodiments.”
Introduction – Inscribing a Square – Dietmar Offenhuber, Katja Schectner (Eds.) 2012
Within our group discussions, Roz brought up a very interesting topic that I am looking forward to discussing with Matt and John Paul, what happens to the data that accumulates from a user in interfacing with a civic tech analytic. Does Microsoft collect this data? Analyze it? Keep it for a longer period of time in order to use in other analytics? Get rid of it periodically? Very curious to hear about this. I am feeling that our group, in terms of designing, is very mindful of what happens to user data. This will certainly influence how we design our piece or application.
