Dark Data

Rapid advancement in internet infrastructure and connectivity has widened the digital divide, further stratifying American society. This has led to people being classified by their internet fluency and ability to access internet services, which are increasingly coupled with benefits such as education, employment, and economic success. Factors and biases that contribute to this disparity include age, gender, ethnicity, location (urban or rural) and disability. Digital inequalities not only reproduce social inequalities in the digital realm, but also amplify them in the physical world. Digital inclusion and public access are necessary interventions within our current infrastructure to increase community potential and create a pathway out of poverty.

Who is Connected?

In the United States, broadband access manifests in a patchwork of districts with disconnected areas located in close proximity to those that are well-connected. To clarify, Broadbandis defined as wide bandwidth data transmission that transports multiple signals and traffic types which are used to gain high speed internet access. Lack of access to adequate broadband, by Federal Standard Commission (FCC) standards, affects more than 30% of rural America. Comparatively, only 16% of urban areas lack connectivity. As of 2016, the FCC set a standard of 25 megabits per second of speed for general usage.

To build broadband infrastructure, the first step for Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) is to negotiate access to install wires within public and private property and right of way procedures through local governments. After this, providers must deal with the issue of “pole attachment,” contracts between themselves and local governments. These contracts ensure their ability to rent space on utility poles for above ground wiring and routing for conduit in which wire is laid underground. Given that these agreements are made on a local level, there is no overarching regulation standard for how costs should manifest. Local governments and their public utilities are allowed to charge ISPs more than the actual cost for access. Because of this exploitation, ISP’s are unable to offer service at an affordable price.

Though the FCC does a good job of introducing rural and urban connectivity, it fails in addressing the totality of the situation. Even what the FCC considers access within a given area is up for debate. If a single household in a census block receives service, the FCC considers the whole census block "served."

Internet service providers (ISPs) are not subjected to consistent regulation by the FCC. The FCC requires providers receiving federal subsidies to extend broadband to rural areas only need to reach speeds of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) as a valid means of access within that given area. This means that even after money is allocated for the improvement of broadband access, the service falls well under the commission's own speed standard of 25 mbps. The contradiction between standards and actual implementation is a driving factor of the current divide.

Grassroots Action

In Detroit there is a coalition of community members, known as the Equitable Internet Initiative (EII). Members of the EII work alongside local nonprofits in an effort to tackle internet connectivity by building internet infrastructure themselves. Their first undertaking was to establish a central internet source hub to serve other connections. Trained volunteers then use wireless access points to beam connection from the main hub through the air, providing internet to locations where ISP’s won’t. Similarly, NYC Mesh, a community owned network connects and supports their community with access to internet with the promise of little to no monitoring of its users. They too establish a hub of internet connection, called a super node, that feeds into other smaller nodes across the city and its boroughs. These initiatives are not only tackling internet inequalities but radicalizing and reclaiming the internet from the ground up.

To illustrate digital disparity on a localized level, Brownsville, Texas - the city with the lowest percentage of broadband access in the United States, is a prime example of how disconnectedness and poverty go hand in hand. Brownsville, the largest city in the Rio Grande Valley, is located along the border separating the U.S. from Mexico. Demographically, Brownsville’s citizens are almost 95% Hispanic and/or Latinx identifying. Of that percentage, roughly 80% are not native to the state of Texas and speak a language other than English. Within the city, the majority of citizens fall in the bracket of a household income of $35 K or less.

Of those households, a third of the population lives below the poverty line and less than half have direct Internet access. When its taken into consideration that money within these communities is primarily going towards shelter and food, little remains left over to cover the cost of internet services. Arguably, many activities that are essential to livelihood and economic gain take place on the Internet. In our increasingly digitized world, how can one be expected to find and apply for jobs, participate in civic life, access political information, or fulfill educational expectations without being connected?

The city of Brownsville has identified three areas which have contributed to the stagnation of increased connectedness: digital literacy skills, cost of widespread accessibility and implementation relevance within the community. Fundamentally, there is a disconnect between citizens and their ability to see broadband access as a gateway to social equality and social enrichment. The truth is, that the digital divide is a structural barrier to upward mobility. In terms of strategy, Brownsville has begun to adopt initiatives that target access in the areas of education, workforce and community engagement.

Another example is how the Brownsville Independent School District called a stakeholders meeting in March of 2019 to ideate ways to bridge the digital divide within their community. As with the majority of the U.S., their problem is fluctuating broadband access within varying areas of the city itself. Digital literacy, an umbrella term that encompasses more than understanding the functions and benefits of the internet for a community or individual, is an issue that the school board wants to address by introducing access at a young age, which will promote integration down the line. The Sprint 1 Million Project missionizes helping high school students who are unable to access reliable internet access, by giving them devices with high speed internet capabilities. Through the Sprint 1 Million Project, BISD was able to start providing tablet computers to all enrolled fifth graders in 2017.

The Connect Brownsville program is rooted in the understanding that addressing a linkage between internet access, awareness and literacy leads to enhancements in the workforce and a decrease in unemployment. The program is working collaboratively with both the Texas State Library and Archive Commission's statewide Public Computer Center project. Its focus has been in increasing broadband speeds within the town’s library. These are just a few examples of how local governments and institutions can connect with larger organizations in an effort to help the community seek access and understanding.

Access, Equality, and Responsibility

The question remains as to whether or not this access being given and utilized responsibly. While local and federal governments are slowly taking strides to close the digital divide, is it enough to simply populate these communities with devices? Internet equality is about more than fair internet access, and this is only the first step of many. The second step is introducing digital literacy.

Security and privacy are at the cornerstones of internet equality and are often an afterthought of its implementation. The industry is built upon the leveraging of sophisticated technology to collect, quantify and commodify user attention and data. From the moment your online presence is detected, websites are littering your computer with cookies that monitor your preferences, record your information and target you with ads specific to who companies believe you are. Without a concrete understanding of how your data is being harvested, you are at a disadvantage in exercising your right to protect your online presence.

Because marginalized communities have little digital autonomy, their data is more likely to be exploited with no benefit ever circling back to elevate them. Arming these communities with a tool as powerful as the internet without teaching them how to utilize it to best serve them in the long run is troubling. The internet is an ecosystem much like the physical one we live in. Its accessibility, safety, freedom and longevity are all dependent on awareness of our personal and communal digital footprints. Our push for internet equality must happen in conjunction with a willingness for education alongside implementation. Without this, the digital divide will not be addressed, it will merely be widened. □

Lizette Ayala is a third year BFA student studying Design and Technology at Parsons School of Design.