At a glance
Smart Data Donation Service
Empowering individuals across the country to obtain their own digital footprints and share them safely with researchers.
Individuals in the UK have the right to obtain a machine-readable copy of the personal data that any corporation holds about them. The Smart Data Donation Service (SDDS) is the first piece of national research infrastructure built around this right.
SDDS will help citizens across the UK to obtain copies of their digital trace data; assist them in using it to understand their digital lives; and offer them the opportunity to enrich and donate their data for use in scientific research.
Initially focusing on social media and video game domains, SDDS aims to address the urgent need for evidence-based policy around online safety and digital wellbeing. It will facilitate research into diverse topics including mental health, media literacy, digital community, discriminatory behaviour, and disinformation.
Data focus
- Digital behavioural data from tens of thousands of individual donors
- Targeted sampling of youth and at-risk populations across digital platforms
- Combined digital trace data with self-reported experiences and perceptions
- Longitudinal datasets tracking individual changes in digital engagement patterns
What’s coming?
- Tiered access system offering different security levels for sensitive data
- Community engagement through hackathons and a “lab in residence” programme
- Digital wellbeing indicators for policy development and intervention assessment
- Personalised tools enabling individuals to visualise and understand their own data
Gambling insights from banking data
The team
The University of York is a leading hub for research into the digital world. The Smart Data Donation Service team brings together world-leading expertise in digital infrastructure and data analytics. The team is headed by Dr David Zendle and Professor Florian Block.
The Smart Data Donation Service is getting ready to launch – for more information
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