Abstract
Humanitarian organizations frequently do not fully address the implications of collecting, storing, and using data about vulnerable populations. We propose a conceptual framework for Humanitarian Information Activities (HIA), especially in the context of undocumented migration. We examine this framework in the light of both a survey of the literature and a pilot study that examines HIA activities in three distinct contexts: (1) higher education institutions that provide support to undocumented students, (2) non-profit organizations that provide legal support to undocumented immigrants, and (3) humanitarian organizations assisting undocumented migrants near the US-Mexico border. We discuss both technological and human risks in HIA, the limitations of privacy self-management, and the need for clear privacy-related guidelines for HIA. We conclude suggesting guidelines to strengthen the privacy protection offered to vulnerable populations by humanitarian organizations in the context of irregular migration.
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Vannini, S., Gomez, R., Newell, B.C. (2019). Documenting the Undocumented: Privacy and Security Guidelines for Humanitarian Work with Irregular Migrants. In: Taylor, N., Christian-Lamb, C., Martin, M., Nardi, B. (eds) Information in Contemporary Society. iConference 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11420. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15742-5_23
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