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Cited by 289Water Governance and InfrastructureCultural Studies and PostmodernismCybernetics and Technology in Society

Data flows and water woes: The Utah Data Center

Open access
Hogan, Mél·2015·Big Data & Society
DOI 10.1177/2053951715592429
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Abstract

Using a new materialist line of questioning that looks at the agential potentialities of water and its entanglements with Big Data and surveillance, this article explores how the recent Snowden revelations about the National Security Agency (NSA) have reignited media scholars to engage with the infrastructures that enable intercepting, hosting, and processing immeasurable amounts of data. Focusing on the expansive architecture, location, and resource dependence of the NSA’s Utah Data Center, I demonstrate how surveillance and privacy can never be disconnected from the material infrastructures that allow and render natural the epistemological state of mass surveillance. Specifically, I explore the NSA’s infrastructure and the million of gallons of water it requires daily to cool its servers, while located in one of the driest states in the US. Complicating surveillance beyond the NSA, as also already imbricated with various social media companies, this article questions the emplacement and impact of corporate data centers more generally, and the changes they are causing to the landscape and local economies. I look at how water is an intriguing and politically relevant part of the surveillance infrastructure and how it has been constructed as the main tool for activism in this case, and how it may eventually help transform the public’s conceptualization of Big Data, as deeply material.

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Crossref · 10.1177/2053951715592429

Cites

33 of 33 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Aid MM, 2009, The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency
  2. Gorman S (2013) Meltdowns hobble NSA Data Center. Wall Street Journal , October 7, sec. US. Available at: online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304441404579119490744478398?mod=wsj_nview_latest&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304441404579119490744478398.html%3Fmod%3Dwsj_nview_latest (accessed 27 November 2014).
  3. MacLeod J (n.d.) Holding water in times of hydrophobia. (unpublished dissertation). Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University.
  4. Starosielski N, 2014, International Journal of Communication
  5. Tuana N, 2008, Material Feminisms, 188

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Authors
Hogan, M.
Affiliations
Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author
Hogan, Mél
ORCID
Hogan, Mél
Venue
Big Data & Society
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2015-07-13
Volume
2
Issue
2
ISSN
2053-9517 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1177/2053951715592429
OpenAlex
W2181078401
Semantic Scholar
5833b16f31e2dc5359a9cc50b45e8a66d4fdf54c
Cited by
289
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 55 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4
FWCI
43.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Big Data & Society (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Water Governance and Infrastructure
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Cultural Studies and Postmodernism
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Cybernetics and Technology in Society
Keywords
National Security Agency, mass surveillance, big data, data centers, water infrastructure, server cooling, Snowden revelations, privacy, landscape change, local economy

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