Ethical Considerations of Including Personal Demographic Information in Open Knowledge Platforms

In recent years, galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) have sought to leverage open knowledge platforms such as Wikidata highlight or provide more visibility for traditionally marginalized groups their work, collections, contributions. Efforts like Art + Feminism, local edit-a-thons, and, recently, GLAM institution-led projects promoted initiatives a broader audience of participants. One project, the Program Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) Pilot, has brought together over seventy organizations contribute linked data individuals associated with institutions, archives. However, these up ethical concerns around including potentially sensitive personal demographic information, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, in entries an base about living persons. institutions are thus position balancing access cataloging, which should include adhering preferences whose is being shared. People working libraries archives been increasingly focusing energies on issues diversity, equity, inclusion descriptive practices, remediating legacy addressing biased language. Moving this work into public sphere scaling volume creates potential risks described. While adding information people bases enhance, highlight, celebrate it could also be used detriment subjects through surveillance targeting activities. article we seek investigate changing role metadata addressing, not under- misrepresentation, especially they pertain identity described sex property Wikidata. We report findings from survey investigating how participating part projects, what, if any, policies implemented what implications activities may