Data and Power: Archival Theory as a Framework for Data Preservation Practice

Digital data pervades everyday life, from photos shared on social media to voice commands to Amazon Alexa. However, a widespread industry culture of “move fast and break things” has compelled data management practices that prioritize profit over appraisal. This paper draws from archival theory to radically reconsider data stewardship practices that reject data storage as neutral or objective, and instead foreground control, power, subjectivity, and emotion. We draw on postmodern archival theory that recognizes the archive as a powerful and subjective curator of identity and memory. The theoretical basis of archival appraisal practices, in turn, establishes the value of the archival record which determines the need to save it. With appraisal theory as a backbone, we conducted an interview study with older adults (N=17), ages 51-72, who are in a life stage of making transitional decisions about the experiences and memories that are worth keeping or discarding. We sketch data management paths, drawn from archival theory, that forefront legacy, life transitions, precarity, and control.