ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes an overarching norm for polycentric digital data governance. It argues that questions should also be given more consideration as a device for modern data responsibility. Traditionally, questions have typically been seen solely as a device for inquiry. We suggest, however, that designing a process for asking the right questions can play an important role in ensuring that data is used responsibly and with maximum positive social impact. More generally, we argue that, combined with other methods and approaches, questions can help achieve a variety of key data responsibility goals, including data minimization and proportionality, increasing participation and enhancing accountability. In addition to ‘data science,’ we need to invest in creating a new kind of ‘question science’ that can contribute to data responsibility. These observations are supplemented by the author’s own experience, as founder and lead of the ‘100 Questions Initiative,’ an effort to help determine the most important questions across a variety of fields that could be answered if data were made more readily available to trusted parties.
