Infrastructure in Crisis: A Values-Driven Framework for Transparent Contextual Decision-Making in Emergency Situations

Abstract

Crises that lean on techno-solutionism often conflict with user privacy concerns. The technology industry frequently applies user expectations in an ad hoc manner, such as after a scandal or legal repercussions. Users have technology and tools thrust upon them with little or no choice as they attend school, go to work, and participate in society. This is compounded with a sense of urgency where privacy is an after-thought in the design of technology solutions. This paper proposes a values-driven framework to guide implementors to identify core values that connect to the technical functionality. It also prompts decision-makers and implementors to transparently define the lifecycle of data as it traverses their technology by describing the stages that users will encounter. This framework aims to bring higher level ideas and values directly into the decision-making process as it situates and connects human values within the data lifecycle to functionality within the technology.