Digital networks provide for immense, unprecedented connectivity. This hyper connectedness enables not only unlimited communication and ubiquitous monitoring, but the potential to affect civic discourse and government. As whistleblowers leak and corporations begrudgingly disclose details about international monitoring infrastructures and the considerable overlaps with commercial platforms, Internet users confront startling revelations about how both state and private actors record and mine the details of our lives, and have the capacity to sway our personal opinions. Big Brother + Big Data = Dark Data. This course examines these phenomena within historical and contemporary socio-technical contexts. Paying special attention to art, design and technology that critique, mitigate, or respond to digital tracking infrastructures, the studio elective will support the practice of making new creative responses to data security and sovereignty by exploring critical artifacts, systems, strategies, and interventions.