The objectives of Open Government Data (OGD) are to promote transparency, accountability, and collaboration with the public. Structural issues within Subnational OGD and limited governance of urban data collection technologies have led to public concerns about ethical data collection, privacy, and digital human rights. However, OGD research is often purpose-driven evaluating specific parts of the system from a technical perspective and forgoes what data means to us as humans living in cities. The purpose of this study is to examine OGD use in Canada’s cities from a values-based perspective. Using design thinking, strategic foresight, and systems thinking methodology, this research first investigates the current state of the system and uncovers that the metaphor, knowledge is power, is contributing to its insufficiencies. Alternative system metaphors are unpacked using future scenarios that demonstrate areas of critical uncertainty to which we are unprepared. Using the scenarios as the guide, this research submits decision making principles that OGD decision makers and open data advocates can use to humanize data.