Five Data Ethics Considerations for 2020

Author: N/A

Publisher: e Week

Publication Year: 2020

Summary: The following article outlines 5 data ethics considerations as the collection of data becomes more popular in the coming years. The author suggests that data scientists consider 1). Curation, 2). Processing, 3). Dissemination, 4). Algorithms, and 5). Transparency. For data curation, the author suggests that data professionals learn as much as they can about curation prior to deciding which data sources are acceptable to use. Likewise, data professionals must adequately process the data using an ethics-based mindset rather than making decisions based on monetary gains alone. Data professionals must practice what the author calls “data-minimization,” meaning that the collection of data should be bound by ethics. Similarly, data scientists should be aware of the bias present in many algorithms and do all in their power to rectify this. Lastly, they should be transparent about all steps of the process so that everyone is comfortable with how the information is collected and used. Despite the gains that can be gleaned from data, ethics should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds when working with data and other personal information.