Author: N/A
Publisher: Dataethics
Publication Year: 2017
Summary: The following article outlines 5 data ethics principles that should be carried out when conducting any sort of data processing activity. To start, data ethics is centered around using data in ways that are both responsible and sustainable. With the power to create predictions and forecast characteristics for billions of people, activities must be carried out with the best of intentions only and in a way that can be allowed to be repeated without harm. It is the idea that you will “treat someone else’s personal information as you wish your own, or your children’s, treated.” The first data ethics principle is “The Human Being at the Center.” We are using algorithms with people at the forefront of concern. Do not collect data for the sake of making a machine perform better. Collect it for machine outputs to be better for humans. The second principle is “Individual Data Control.” The individual should have control over how their data is being used, the context it is processed, and how it is activated. The third principle is “Transparency.” Any data processing activities should make sense to the individual in a language that they can understand. They understand the risks and consequences of their data being collected. The fourth principle is “Accountability.” It describes how a company insures that its ethical concerns are a part of every step of the data processing timeline. Finally, the fifth principle is “Equality.” Whenever we process data, we need to do so where we are aware of marginalized groups in order to snuff out areas of bias in our algorithms.