Anouk Ruhaak

I am a data governance expert, helping organizations and communities design and implement models that put people first, from data trusts to data commons. I believe that who controls data matters, and I work to make that control more democratic, transparent, and fair.

I am the chair of Stichting Data Bescherming Nederland (SDBN), a foundation using strategic litigation to fight for privacy rights. We are currently taking legal action against companies like X, Amazon, and Adobe for violating those rights.

In past lives, I have been a Senior Fellow at the Mozilla Foundation, a Fellow at AlgorithmWatch, a Visiting Scholar at the Ostrom Workshop, a political economist, a data journalist, and a software developer. Each of those roles shaped how I think about power, accountability, and the role data plays in our lives.

Data Governance

We are recording and storing astronomical amounts of data. Data that could help us make better decisions, allocate resources in socially and environmentally optimal ways and help coordinate our collective actions. For that to happen we need novel approaches to data stewardship that combine the technical elements of data systems and data federation, with a deep understanding of the human needs on the ground. As a data governance consultant I combine my experience in governance as well as my technical background to help my clients navigate this complex landscape.

Writings and Talks

I have written and spoken extensively about data governance models, privacy and surveillance.
Sample writings:

Data Trusts: Why, What & How, the RSA
Data Brokers Are Cruising for a Bruising, Wired
Should Google Know You Better Than Your Doctor?, Mozilla
The Data Farmer, Groene Amsterdammer

Sample talks:

Data Trusts: Why, What & How, UIKonf 2020
Demystifying Data Trusts and Collective Consent, Ocean Protocol Podcast
Surveillance is not the cure, Big Tech not our salvation, IEEE

Radical Engineers

Faced with the threat of mass extinction, a warming globe and rising inequality, we cannot afford to merely fight symptoms, but have to instead radically rethink the economic and social systems that produce them. I founded Radical Engineers to provide radical organisations with the technical resources they need to be effective.

gingerbread houses lit up by string of white lights

Community

Lasting change happens in collaboration. We need to grow communities of trust that bridge our different social layers and geographies. Communities that allow us to experiment with new forms of governance, economic systems and solidarity. I help build these communities as an ambassador for the Embassy Network, a community of intentional co-living houses and as a fellow at Newspeak House, a college for political technologists.