Access to digital technology shapes how people learn, work, and connect—but those opportunities aren’t distributed equally. Colin Rhinesmith, associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and director of the Digital Equity Action Research (DEAR) Lab, studies communication technologies and how communities access and use information. Their work focuses on advancing digital equity through community-engaged and participatory research, often in collaboration with civil society organizations, government agencies, and nonprofits. By examining the social, technical, and policy contexts that shape technology access, Rhinesmith’s research explores how communities can build more inclusive digital futures.
In this spotlight, Rhinesmith shares a few quick insights about his research interests, what inspires their work, and a few personal insights beyond the lab.
Q&A with
Colin Rhinesmith
(he/they)
At the heart of your work, what question are you trying to answer?
How can we address the digital equity needs and aspirations of vulnerable populations and the individuals and institutions that support them?
A book or article you’ve recommended recently:
Data Borders: How Silicon Valley Is Building an Industry Around Immigrants by Melissa Villa-Nicholas*
What’s one resource or support that has made a difference in your work?
Trust
What keeps you motivated when research gets challenging?
The individuals and families most impacted by digital inequality.
Favorite way to recharge outside of work?
Sleep 😴
Connect with Colin
Colin Rhinesmith is always interested in connecting with fellow researchers to explore potential collaborations. If your work touches on digital equity, community informatics, or participatory research, he would love to hear from you.
Email Colin Colin’s LinkedIn Profile Colin’s iSchool Profile
About the CSBS Affiliate Program
The CSBS Affiliate Program brings together social and behavioral science researchers from across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Affiliates gain access to a vibrant network, professional development opportunities, and resources to advance their research and collaborations. The program helps CSBS and its members explore new directions, share knowledge, and address societal challenges together.
Learn More & Become an AffiliateEditor’s Note
Data Borders investigates entrenched and emerging borderland technology that ensnares all people in an intimate web of surveillance where data resides and defines citizenship. Detailing the new trend of biologically mapping undocumented people through biotechnologies, Melissa Villa-Nicholas shows how surreptitious monitoring of Latinx immigrants is the focus of and driving force behind Silicon Valley’s growing industry within defense technology manufacturing. Villa-Nicholas reveals a murky network that gathers data on marginalized communities for purposes of exploitation and control that implicates law enforcement, border patrol, and ICE, but that also pulls in public workers and the general public, often without their knowledge or consent. Enriched by interviews of Latinx immigrants living in the borderlands who describe their daily use of technology and their caution around surveillance, this book argues that in order to move beyond a heavily surveilled state that dehumanizes both immigrants and citizens, we must first understand how our data is being collected, aggregated, correlated, and weaponized with artificial intelligence and then push for immigrant and citizen information privacy rights along the border and throughout the United States.
Get “Data Borders” Book