What it means and where it comes from
Data colonialism generally refers to the systematic extraction and appropriation of human experiences as data for economic and political gain. The term is closely linked to scholars Nick Couldry and Ulises A. Mejias, who argue it extends historic colonial logics into the digital era. Rather than seizing land or labor directly, platforms and infrastructures capture behavioral traces and social relations. This framing positions everyday connectivity - apps, sensors, platforms - as pipelines that normalize continuous data capture.
Data colonialism is a lens that treats ubiquitous data capture as a new extractive order rooted in older colonial patterns.
How it generally works in practice
The process often begins with consent that is formal yet thin - dense terms of service, default opt-ins, and opaque data flows. Infrastructural dependencies, like cloud services and app ecosystems, create lock-ins that make opting out socially or economically costly. Aggregated data is then refined into analytics, predictions, and products that reinforce platform advantages. Feedback loops emerge: more users create more data, which funds better models, which attract more users and partners.
Practical data colonialism relies on consent gaps, infrastructural lock-ins, and compounding data network effects.
Who is affected and what’s at stake
Individuals face privacy erosion, identity profiling, and unequal bargaining power over their digital traces. Communities - especially in the Global South - may experience "digital dependency," where local economies rely on foreign platforms that extract value from local data. Public sectors risk outsourcing critical digital capacity, from health records to citizen portals, to proprietary systems. Over time, these dynamics can shape social norms, knowledge production, and democratic accountability.
The stakes include privacy, local autonomy, public capacity, and long-term social power imbalances.
Debates, critiques, and adjacent ideas
Supporters of the concept argue it clarifies how extraction, commodification, and control persist under new technical guises. Critics caution against overextending the colonial analogy or overlooking user agency and regulatory gains. Related frameworks - like "surveillance capitalism," "platform imperialism," and "digital sovereignty" - highlight overlapping but distinct mechanisms. Healthy debate focuses on proportionality: where extraction is most harmful, how benefits are distributed, and which interventions truly rebalance power.
The concept is powerful but contested, and it intersects with other theories of digital power and markets.
Why this may be useful to you
Understanding data colonialism helps leaders, policymakers, and citizens evaluate trade-offs in platform adoption, AI procurement, and data-sharing deals. It provides a vocabulary for negotiating contracts, designing safeguards, and prioritizing open standards and local capacity. The lens can guide audits of consent practices, data governance, and cross-border transfers. Most importantly, it directs attention toward building equitable digital ecosystems rather than accepting extraction as inevitable.
Use this lens to negotiate better tech choices, strengthen governance, and promote fairer digital ecosystems.
Helpful Links
The Costs of Connection (Stanford University Press): https://www.sup.org/books/sociology/costs-connection
Data Colonialism: Rethinking Big Data’s Relation to the Contemporary Subject (SAGE): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1527476418796632
Making data colonialism liveable (Policy Review): https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/making-data-colonialism-liveable-how-might-datas-social-order-be-regulated
Book review of The Costs of Connection (LSE Review of Books): https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2019/11/19/book-review-the-costs-of-connection-how-data-is-colonizing-human-life-and-appropriating-it-for-capitalism-by-nick-couldry-and-ulises-a-mejias/
‘Data Colonialism’ and the Political Economy of Big Tech (Lawfare): https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/data-colonialism--and-the-political-economy-of-big-tech