Data-sharing and third-party monitoring in humanitarian response

1.2 Background and justification The humanitarian sector is becoming increasingly aware, albeit belatedly, of the range and potential impact of the risks that digital technologies and data can present to response organisations and to the people they seek to assist. [...] To further this agenda, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Government of Switzerland have led on the creation of the Humanitarian Data and Trust Initiative (HDTI),1 which has provided a critical discussion and research agenda into the use of and risks around data sharing between humanitarian agencie. [...] In so doing, this work points to the need to expand the sector’s understanding of both how data is shared and used in the sector, and how to more fully consider the complex group of stakeholders involved in such a process. [...] We first mapped out the different actors involved in the creation and exchange of data around TPM, and then explored their different experiences of the benefits and risks of data through a document review and semi-structured interviews. [...] However, there emerged specific risks relating to four features of TPM activity: 1) the insertion of remote/distance relationships; 2) the insecure environment that underpins the justification for TPM and data collection; 3) stakeholder coordination and the usefulness of the data; and 4) the introduction of third parties to existing, sometimes fragile, relations of trust.