Getting started NEW POSSIBILITIES WITH DIGITAL DATA Some forms of digital data discussed in this guide: ›› Photos, videos, and their metadata ›› Satellite imagery and geospatial information ›› Search engines, social media, and online opinions ›› Government statistics and budgets Today, millions of people have the ability to First, it can offer a new source of corroborating capture high resolution photographs or video evidence for traditional documentation of specific with devices that fit into their pockets. With events. Human rights violations are often typified ease, they can share what they’ve captured by an event. Armed with new data sources, the with audiences near and far, projecting their amount of detail that can be uncovered about a observations across space and time, largely particular event grows (i.e. the who, what, where, without regard to borders and language. and when can be identified more specifically), as For human rights researchers, these new modes of information sharing are changing how we Second—and perhaps even more significantly— discover relevant information and reinforce the data provides a standardised unit of need for verification and healthy skepticism. measurement that can be captured, categorised Compared to only a few years ago, there are immense possibilities that come from having so much data from so many sources to support human rights work. Digital data can support human rights documentation in depth, breadth, accuracy and efficiency. 10 does the impact of fact-finding. and compared across groups and over time. This makes it helpful in mapping trends and patterns that help to spotlight more systemic dysfunctions.