An Initiative for Stable and Reliable Data Work

This code of conduct for data workers is part of a collaboration between Aapti Institute and Karya. Aapti is a research and policy think tank working at the intersection of technology and society to build solutions that enhance societal impact, justice and equity. Karya is a data work firm that offers services ranging from data labeling to model evaluation, driven by a workforce of tens of thousands of people living in rural India.

For Aapti, the code of conduct was a continuation of our previous research around data annotation work and Aapti’s years-long research on labour within the digital economy, ranging from our 2021 research on the labour behind AI to our engagements with location based platform workers from 2022.

Over the course of developing this tool, the project team conducted secondary research, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with data workers and researchers concerned with labour in AI value chains. The team also engaged in discussions with some data work BPOs in India and businesses building AI products to better understand data-work businesses. The emerging insights from this year-long research, beginning July 2024, has informed this code of conduct which offers standards for fairer, safer, and more stable workflows in the data work ecosystem.

This code of conduct is also an attempt to add to the growing body of guidance and design for businesses involved in data work and content moderation. It strives to bring together past and ongoing efforts from labour, advocacy, civil society, the media, and research, to present a portrait of business obligations and minimum levels of support for data workers. The efforts of several people, institutions, and undertakings have helped us understand data work, and define and think about the ways they can improve.