Data Ethics and Practices of Human-Nonhuman Sound Technologies and Ecologies

TL;DR

The paper investigates ethical issues surrounding data practices in human-nonhuman sound ecologies. It combines feminist data ethics with posthumanist and acoustic ecology perspectives to articulate two central challenges: power structures and representation/labour. It proposes actionable takeaways for design that center nonhuman stakeholders and performance considerations to avoid extractive or anthropocentric practices. The work aims to guide researchers and practitioners toward more equitable, less extractive interspecies sound technologies with practical implications for policy and design in HNI sound ecologies.

Abstract

Human-nonhuman sound interaction and technologies aim to bridge the gap of inter-species communication. While they emerge from attempts to understand and communicate with nonhumans, they also raise questions on the ethics of nonhuman data use, for example regarding the unintended consequences such data extraction can have to nonhumans. In this paper, we discuss power relations and aspects of representation in nonhuman data practices, and their potential critical implications to nonhumans. Drawing from prior research on data ethics and posthumanities, we conceptualize two challenges of nonhuman data ethics for the design of Human-Nonhuman Interaction (HNI) and technologies in sound ecologies. We provide takeaways for how sensitivities toward nonhuman stakeholders can be considered in the design of HNI in the context of sound ecologies.