Demographic figures at risk in the digital era: Resisting commodification, reclaiming the common good

Journal article

The digital era has transformed the production and governance of demographic figures, shifting it from a collective, state-led endeavour to one increasingly shaped by private actors and extractive technologies. This paper analyses the implications of these shifts by tracing the evolving status of demographic figures through the lens of Ostrom's typology of goods: from a club good in royal censuses, to a public good under democratic governance, and now towards a private asset whose collection has become rivalrous and its dissemination excludable. Drawing on case studies involving satellite imagery, mobile phone data, and social media platforms, the study shows how new forms of passive data collection while providing previously unseen data opportunities, disrupt also traditional relationships between states and citizens, raise ethical and epistemic concerns, and challenge the legitimacy of national statistical institutes. In response, the paper advocates for the reconstitution of demographic figures as a common good, proposing a collective governance model that includes increased transparency, the sharing of anonymised aggregates, and the creation of a Public Demographic Data Library to support democratic accountability and technical robustness in demographic knowledge production.

Authors: Darin, E

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Journal: Big Data and Society
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Article number: 20539517251403948
• Publication date: 2025-12-22
• DOI: 10.1177/20539517251403948
• EISSN: 2053-9517
• ISSN: 2053-9517
• Language: English
• Keywords: Demography; digital trace; census; public data library; democracy; commons