PROJECT SUMMARY

Political Economy of Sex Tech
Focus Area: News & Media
Research Programs: Data, Institutions
Status: Active
Smart sex technologies and networked apps are being used in sex and relationship education, to enhance sexual wellness and to improve sexual and reproductive health. To do so, they collect and process substantial amounts of intimate data. This project examines the political economy of ‘sex tech’ in order to identify how sexual technologies are being governed at scale, how sexual data is being collected, stored, shared and monetised, and how the material benefits of sex tech may be more equitably distributed.
It will provide empirical grounding to enrich scholarship on ethical data governance, predictive profiling and accountability of smart technologies.
PUBLICATIONS

Sex tech in an age of surveillance capitalism: Design, Data and Governance, 2024
Stardust, Z.

Sex tech entrepreneurs: Governing intimate data in start-up culture, 2023
Stardust, Z., Kennedy, J., Albury, K

Surveillance does not equal safety: Police, data and consent on dating apps, 2022
Stardust, Z., Gillett, R., Albury, K.

Public interest sex tech hackathon: speculative futures and participatory design, 2022
Stardust, Z., Kennedy, J., Albury, K.
RESEARCHERS

