Archives and Algorithms: The Plancondor.org Experience and the Human Rights Potential of New Technologies

ABSTRACT∞ This article explores the transformative role of new technologies in documenting human rights violations. While much has been written about the promise of new tools in amplifying truth seeking and memorialization, this article examines how technologies are reshaping three key stages of documentation: data collection, analysis and visualization. Grounded in the authors’ experience building the plancondor.org platform, the article offers a reflective account of the potential and the challenges that these technologies pose. It analyses how optical character recognition, natural language processing and metadata categorization can enhance access to archives, while raising concerns about algorithmic opacity, outsourcing and representational politics. Innovations such as blockchain-backed preservation initiatives for data integrity and safeguarding and interactive visual platforms are examined, arguing that technological decisions are never neutral but reflect power relations and ethical trade-offs. Ultimately, we call for a victim-centred, transparent and contextually grounded use of technology, offering a framework that can inform future projects and research.