Julia Keseru is a writer, researcher and activist who explores the connections between technology, social justice and human rights. She studies the impact of digitalisation on our societies, advises organisations about data and technology, and advocates for a more just, fair and sustainable digital ecosystem.

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The DataBody Integrity project is supported through a two year fellowship from the Mozilla Foundation. 

Data-driven computational models are reshaping our understanding of the human body, and create never-before-seen access to our innermost thoughts, feelings and desires.

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But while access to this type of data could be the soil for important scientific exploration, the absence of strong industry norms and regulations have created a wild wild west in the digital world. Our current digital reality is a sea of platforms, apps and tech-enabled systems that cause more harm than good, by jeopardising user well-being and safety.

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Drawing inspiration from clinical trials, medical research and behavioural research, the DataBody integrity project will identify concrete areas where bodily integrity could be more systematically integrated into tech industry norms and regulation --such as facial recognition in airline boarding, emotion recognition in recruitment, behavioural targeting in e-commerce, predictive tools in tele-medicine, or extended reality applications. 

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Featured essays, op-eds and articles:

Imagining a world that centres dignity - research announcement

Bodies of data or“databodies”?

Predation or innovation?

The unwanted touch of the digital era