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Faculty
Aaron Martin
Assistant Professor of Data Science
School of Data Science
A social scientist specializing in technology policy and data governance, Aaron Martin studies how regulation can facilitate just, inclusive, and secure digital societies. In addition to focusing on how transnational policy is established by international bodies and humanitarian organizations, he explores how users in historically marginalized communities, including refugees and other vulnerable people, understand and shape technology and its regulation.
Martin's work has appeared in Big Data & Society, Law, Innovation and Technology, Science & Public Policy, IEEE Privacy & Security, Telecommunications Policy, Global Policy, and Geopolitics, and has been featured in media venues like The Economist. His research has been funded by the European Commission, UN Refugee Agency, European AI & Society Fund, Luminate, European Parliament, and Robert Bosch Foundation.
Martin received his Ph.D. in information systems and innovation from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society in the Netherlands (2018-23), and before moving to UVA he led Maastricht University’s Humanitarian Action Program in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross. He has held tech policy positions at JPMorgan Chase and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Education
- Ph.D., Information Systems and Innovation, London School of Economics and Political Science
- M.Sc., New Media, Information and Society, London School of Economics and Political Science
- B.A., Philosophy, The George Washington University
Data Science Domains
Data + Society
Areas of Practice
Business, Markets, and Policy; Data Ethics and Society
Selected Publications
“The Earthly Limits of Data Center Resistance,” with Q. Tsui, Internet Policy Review, 2026 [ISSN 2197-6775]
Transgressive Tech, with L. Taylor, S. de Souza, J. Lopez-Solano, O. Sabbah & F. Ohai (eds.), Routledge, 2026 [ISBN-13 978-9-048559-73-2]
“Regulatory Entrepreneurship’s Threat to Digital Sovereignty: The case of Worldcoin in Kenya,” with G. Mutung’u & M. Brewczyńska, Science & Public Policy 53(2): 289–299, 2026 [ISSN 1471-5430]
"All Data Is Humanitarian Data," with Q. Tsui, in Data Studies Bibliography, 2026
"Why Sovereignty Matters for Humanitarian Data," in Big Data & Society 12(3): 1–13, 2025 [ISSN 2053-9517]
"Governing Artificial Intelligence Means Governing Data: (Re)setting the agenda for data justice," L. Taylor, S. de Souza & J. López-Solano. Dialogues on Digital Society: 1–18, 2025 [ISSN 2976-8640]
"A Cybersecurity Strategy Fit for Purpose? Introducing the Special Issue on EU Cybersecurity: Collective resilience through regulation," with G. van Dijck, I. Kamara, A. Tamò-Larrieux & P. Wolters. Computer Law & Security Review: 1–3, 2025 [ISSN 2212-4748]
"Synthetic Data, Synthetic Media, and Surveillance," with B. Newell. Surveillance & Society 22(4): 448–452, 2024 [ISSN 1477-7487]
"Digitization and Sovereignty in Humanitarian Space: Technologies, territories, and tensions," with G. Sharma, S. de Souza, L. Taylor, B. van Eerd, S. McDonald, M. Marelli, M. Cheesman, S. Scheel & H. Dijstelbloem, Geopolitics 28(3): 1362–1397, 2023 [ISSN 1557-3028]
"(Re)making Data Markets: An exploration of the regulatory challenges," with L. Taylor, H. Mukiri-Smith, T. Petročnik & L. Savolainen, Law, Innovation and Technology 14(2): 1–40, 2022 [ISSN 1757-9961]
"Between Surveillance and Recognition: Rethinking digital identity in aid," with K. Weitzberg, M. Cheesman & E. Schoemaker, Big Data & Society (January–June): 1–7, 2021 [ISSN 2053-9517]
"Exclusion and Inclusion in Identification: Regulation, displacement, and data justice," with L. Taylor, Information Technology for Development 27(1): 50–66, 2021 [ISSN 1554-0170]
"Using Regulatory Sandboxes to Support Responsible Innovation in the Humanitarian Sector," with G. Balestra, Global Policy 10(4): 733–736, 2019 [ISSN 1758-5899]
"Mobile Money Platform Surveillance," Surveillance & Society 17(1/2): 213–222, 2019 [ISSN 1477-7487]