What We Do

Data & Society is a research institute in New York City that is focused on the social and cultural issues arising from data-centric and automated technologies.

The issues that Data & Society seeks to address are complex. The same innovative technologies and sociotechnical practices that are reconfiguring society – enabling novel modes of interaction, new opportunities for knowledge, and disruptive business paradigms – can be abused to invade people’s privacy, provide new tools of discrimination, and harm individuals and communities.

To provide frameworks that can help society address emergent tensions, Data & Society is committed to identifying thorny issues at the intersection of technology and society, providing and encouraging research that can ground informed, evidence-based public debates, and building a network of researchers and practitioners who can anticipate issues and offer insight and direction.

Data & Society’s programs bring together different perspectives, research methods, and practices. We weave together researchers, entrepreneurs, activists, policy creators, journalists, geeks, and public intellectuals. We see tremendous reciprocal benefits for network building and research when they are combined.

The work and well-being of Data & Society is strengthened by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience, and much more. We are committed to making certain that a wide array of perspectives are heard and that our research is publicly available.

Statement of Independence

Data & Society is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) research institute. We are committed to the independence and autonomy of Data & Society’s initiatives and convenings. We do not accept funding that would affect our ability to pursue work free of external interference, and we fiercely protect the independence of our researchers and fellows in their intellectual activities and individual funding relationships.

Funding and Partners

Data & Society is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) research institute. Its creation was supported by a generous gift from Microsoft.

We are thankful for the general, project, in-kind, and event support we’ve received from a range of entities, including:

Job Opportunities

Data & Society is looking for thoughtful, creative staff and researchers to help drive its program and projects. New job openings are announced through our newsletter and added to the list of Current Opportunities, below.

• Now Hiring: Senior Designer / Art Director
• Now Hiring: Director of Research

Annual Reports

2016-2017 Data & Society Report on Activities, 2016-2017 (pdf) Data & Society Financial Statement, 2016-2017 (pdf)
Previous: 2015-2016 Data & Society Report on Activities, 2015-2016 (pdf) Data & Society Financial Statement, 2015-2016 (pdf) 2014-2015 Data & Society Report on Activities, 2014-2015 (pdf) Data & Society Financial Statement, 2014-2015 (pdf)