Frameworks

Resources that discuss strategies or guidelines on how to approach issues.

Developing an Online Data Ethics Module Informed by an Ecology of Data Perspective

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Author: Xiaofeng Tang, Eduardo Mendieta, Thomas A. Litzinger; Publisher: Science and Engineering Ethics; Publication Year: 2022. The following article discusses how a lack of training in ethical theories and related pedagogy has kept many engineering faculty members from teaching data ethics, an important aspect of engineering research that has become more salient in recent years. This paper describes the development of a module, which includes concepts, cases, policies, and…

Bias Isn’t the Only Problem with Credit Scores—and No, AI Can’t Help

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Author: Will Douglas Heaven; Publisher: MIT Technology Review; Publication Year: 2021. The following article discusses how it is a known fact that biased algorithms affect automatic decision-making processes. To fix this problem, many researchers and start-ups are working to build fairer algorithms. The author, however, claims that building a fair algorithm is not enough because low-income and minority groups represent a very small…

The FAIR Guiding Principles for Scientific Data Management and Stewardship

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Author: Mark D. Wilkinson et al.; Publisher: Nature; Publication Year: 2016. The following article focuses on the need to improve data handling in order to ensure the reproducibility of results published in scientific literature. It sets forth the FAIR data principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reproducibility). The article argues that FAIRness is a prerequisite for proper data management and stewardship. The…

The Data Equity Framework

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Author: N/A; Publisher: We All Count; Publication Year: N/A. The following article discusses how anytime data is involved, decisions are being made and those decisions have consequences. Equity needs to be at the forefront, and this 7-step framework is a systematic approach to doing so. Each step has equity-impacting decision points that must be evaluated. These steps are 1). Funding (this is the stage that…

An Ethics Framework for Big Data in Health and Research

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Author: Vicki Xafis, G. Owen Schaefer, Markus K. Labude, Iain Brassington, Angela Ballantyne, Hannah Yeefen Lim, Wendy Lipworth, Tamra Lysaght, Cameron Stewart, Shirley Sun, Graeme T. Laurie & E Shyong Tai; Publisher: Asian Bioethics Review; Publication Year: 2019. The following paper sets out an Ethics Framework for Big Data in Health and Research developed by a working group convened by the Science, Health and Policy-relevant Ethics in Singapore (SHAPES) Initiative. It presents the aim and rationale for this framework supported by the underlying ethical concerns that relate to all health and research contexts…

Principle-Based Ethics Framework for Access to and Use of Veteran Data

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Author: Veterans Affairs Department; Publisher: Federal Register; Publication Year: 2022. The following article explains the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)’ changes in data ethics and the implementation of their new data ethics framework. The government had been concerned of the data ethics in the VA and decided to implement a framework that was developed for the department. This includes the access, sharing, and use of veterans data…

It’s Never too Early to Get Your AI Ethics Right

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Author: Veronica Irwin; Publisher: Protocol; Publication Year: 2022. The following article discusses how startups, especially early-stage ones, are focused on making evangelical sales to large enterprises. Even with good intentions, it is easy for founders to think of cutting corners, which can have bad consequences. If investors do not trust the team or the product, the startup can be in deep trouble. If the artificial…

Locked Out by Big Data: How Big Data, Algorithms and Machine Learning May Undermine Housing Justice

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Author: Valerie Schneider; Publisher: Columbia Human Rights Law Review; Publication Year: 2020. The following article is a very granular deep dive into how artificial intelligence (AI) can lead to discrimination in housing and how this relates to Fair Housing Act “disparate impact” jurisprudence. The motivation for the article was a proposed rule from HUD that would have immunized landlords using algorithms from disparate impact fair housing claims…

Performing Artists Push for Copyright Protection from AI Deepfakes

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Author: Umberto Bacchi; Publisher: Reuters; Publication Year: 2022. The following article discusses how TikTok’s original text to speech voice was modeled after Bev Standing, a Canadian voice actress, whose performance was never licensed by the platform. Instead, some of her previous work was acquired by the developers, and an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm was used to develop the voice that was ultimately…

Digital Democracy Is Within Reach

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Author: Tristan Harris, Audrey Tang; Publisher: Your Undivided Attention; Publication Year: 2020. The following podcast episode features Audrey Tang, minister of digital affairs in Taiwan. She is a transgender woman that identifies as “post-gender” and the first non-binary person to hold an executive-level position in Taiwan. In this interview, she discusses how she has helped implement greater data transparency in the government and outlines methods…