Zambian tech imaginaries and alternatives to personal data extractivism

The meteoric rise of big tech companies in the twenty-first century has seen the rapid expansion and infiltration of ‘smart’ devices into lives and societies worldwide, facilitating mass harvesting of personal data. The operations of these companies, their modalities of personal data harvesting, and the damage caused can be seen as ‘data extractivism’. Just as other forms of extractivism lead to resistance and alternatives, the same can be said of data extractivism. However, unlike other forms of extractivism, data extractivism is less visible: there are no mines to protest at, there are no trucks to blockade. As such, alternative approaches to and imaginaries of ICT arise more frequently than explicit resistance. This article aims to highlight imaginaries and active alternatives to data-extractive practices in the Zambian context. Zambia is an interesting case as it is a diverse country and has seen rapid expansion of ICT as well as new laws to govern ICT in recent years. This article is based upon interviews and surveys conducted with 70 Zambian stakeholders in the technology sector, civil society, and government over 12 months of fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2024.