We must prioritize trust in digital infrastructure
Katy Knight of the Siegel Family Endowment on why builders need to include the communities they serve
Despite the techno-utopian myth that most citizens trust the digital infrastructure underpinning our modern world, the recent data abuses of Big Tech have fueled newfound skepticism toward these digital innovations. At Siegel Family Endowment, we recognize that technology has reshaped foundational elements that underpin civil society. As such, we focus on understanding and shaping the impact of technology on society, and support work that advances its use for outsized public good. As Executive Director of Siegel, I’m a firm believer that technology has the potential to better our world, but think it’s naive to expect that we can use these systems without thoughtfully and carefully working to build trust in them first. In order to create digital infrastructure that works and makes a difference, we cannot take trust for granted.
Trust in digital infrastructure is not a given… and it’s certainly not free.
Technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum where everyone blindly accepts it. Instead, it operates in a complicated and nuanced world in which people’s lived experiences give them reason to be wary of new inventions. If a person is hesitant about a digital tool, it’s likely they simply won’t use it—making community trust just about as important to a system’s success as the code it runs on or the funds it needs to grow. We can’t come close to harnessing the full potential of these systems to better our world if they aren’t accessible—through actual or perceived inequities—to all.
This became clear when it came to deploying contact tracing apps during the pandemic. While a crucial tool for containing the coronavirus early on, the apps were met with significant hesitation across the United States. While the focus was on the apps, the underlying concern was the digital infrastructure on which they were built. Could downloading them open up personal data to further surveillance from the government? Could the information be used to disqualify someone from a job, a place to live or something else? While contact tracing apps are tremendously innovative solution, they only work if people trust them.
This hesitancy didn’t come out of left field. People have legitimate reasons to be wary of handing over their personal information to what may feel like a black hole—especially those who have been previously betrayed by authorities. For example, Black communities were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and yet have expressed skepticism over contact tracing and in some places, vaccine hesitancy. Considering this in the context of history, it should not necessarily come as a surprise. Black individuals have long been marginalized by data, victimized by medical institutions and profiled by the government. From slavery, (one of our nation’s earliest form of infrastructure in many ways), to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which both took advantage of Black bodies to profit the medical profession, communities of color know all too well about the potential for exploitation. We have to recognize that for some, they are viewing these interventions through the lens of generational trauma and wrongdoing.
Likewise, trust in digital infrastructure shouldn’t be presumed.
When we each approach these systems, we don’t do so with a blank slate. Instead, we bring our unique identities with us and our values, beliefs and backstories shape how we understand and respond to the technology, even when it’s built to help us. Even with my experience working in and around the tech industry for more than a decade, I found myself taking a pause when I was signing up for my first vaccine dose through a city-run website, double checking the security of the web address and the fine print about how my information, including demographic data, would be shared and used.
Going forward, we must prioritize centering trust as a crucial building block when it comes to digital infrastructure.
Today’s emerging technologies have the capacity to launch our societies leap years ahead, but it’s evident—even in these systems’ earliest stages—that trust will be difficult to earn. Advances in biotech and precision medicine, including the COVID-19 vaccine, have the potential to prolong and save millions of lives, but have still been met with intense skepticism. The metaverse and related technologies could serve to change the way we collaborate, democratize experiences, and create powerful new ways to connect, but suspicion about the extractive behavior of the companies leading the charge, a lack of regulation around data and privacy, and failures to safeguard against the worst behavior could potentially derail these benefits. We can’t achieve an equitable future, powered by these cutting-edge tools, networks, and systems, until we invest in building trust from the ground up.
How do we do this? Those at the helm of infrastructure projects can reach out to communities who may be hesitant to new systems, listen to their fears, and bring them in on the design and implementation. And when it comes to marginalized populations, we’ve admittedly got a long way to go. It won’t be easy, but we must continue and double down on our efforts to bring overlooked and underrepresented voices to the room where infrastructure is being built to ensure it accounts for diverse perspectives. We also must listen and understand where the hesitations lie in order to address them in a substantial manner that lays the groundwork on which to establish trust across communities.
As we stand on the dawn of a historic opportunity to modernize America’s infrastructure systems following a $1 trillion investment from the Biden administration, let’s not take trust for granted. While reimagining the networks that connect us all, it’s crucial we also take this moment to double down on building trust in these innovations to ensure their impact is felt across all communities, for generations to come. 🌳
Katy Knight is the Executive Director and President of Siegel Family Endowment, a foundation focused on understanding and shaping the impact of technology on society. She draws on a diversity of professional experience from previous roles in education, technology, and community-based organizations.
Design by Josh Kramer.
Photo via Maryland GovPics on Flickr, with an Attribution Creative Commons license.