Data Misuse

Big Data Ethics and Politics: Toward New Understandings

by

Author: Wenhong Chen, Anabel Quan-Haase; Publisher: Social Science Computer Review; Publication Year: 2018. The following article addresses new issues created by big data, such as biases, subjectivities, and forms of oppression. They define 4 major aspects of big data ethics and politics: 1). Potential biases in big data collection and interpretation, 2). Community and citizen concerns of big data (mis)use in public life and for journalistic purposes, 3). Media…

AI has a Dangerous Bias Problem — Here’s How to Manage It

by

Author: Thomas Macaulay, Alejandro Saucedo; Publisher: The Next Web; Publication Year: 2022. The following article discusses how almost all artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are inherently biased as they do exactly what us the programmers tell them to do and we are all inherently biased ourselves. This resource is an interview with Alejandro Saucedo, Chief Scientist at The Institute for Ethical AI, who discusses his main points of what needs to be…

Twitter Whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko Testifies to Congress

by

Author: Shannon Bond, Raquel Maria Dillon; Publisher: National Public Radio; Publication Year: 2022. The following article discusses a recent Senate hearing in which Peiter Zatko, former head of security at Twitter, testified before Congress, bringing up Twitter’s cybersecurity failures and lack of ethical leadership. Zatko accused Twitter of “practicing lax security, neglecting user privacy, [and being] plagued by widespread security issues.” The…

Tesla Cars Store Unencrypted Data

by

Author: Marie Weber, Lexy Kassan; Publisher: Data Science Ethics; Publication Year: 2019. The following podcast episode discusses how Tesla had a bug bounty program running in 2019 which led people to try and hack wrecked Tesla cars. The reason was that all the footage, precise geolocation, and other related information was being stored in the car’s computer. The (supposedly ethical) hackers were able to extract personally identifiable…

Data Ethics for the Digital Education Age

by

Author: Lou Blouin; Publisher: University of Michigan-Dearborn News; Publication Year: 2022. The following article describes the ethical issues inherent in data-driven education, particularly in the context of digital learning. Blouin notes that student privacy is often overlooked, particularly when instructors require students to install and use third-party software that tracks user data. In this case, the institution is not at risk, while the students are…

AI Usage in Banking is Forcing the Conversation around the Ethical Use of Data

by

Author: Lisa Shields; Publisher: Inside BIG DATA; Publication Year: 2020. The following article talks about how over the past few years, the financial services industry has made huge strides in adopting new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) into its workflow. The cache of data that banks can access holds endless potential to create valuable new products and experiences for clients. But with the right…

Op-Ed: The Role of Ethics in Data-Driven Policymaking

by

Author: Jenna Shelton; Publisher: Brief Policy Perspectives; Publication Year: 2019. The following article is an opinion piece about the need for policymakers to use data ethically. The author points out that data can help inform public policy and lead to better decision-making. But policymakers must keep ethical considerations in mind when using the data. These considerations are: 1). If/how the data were misused in the past: the…

Key Concepts for a Data Science Ethics Curriculum

by

Author: Jeffrey Saltz, Neil Dewar, Robert Heckman; Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library; Publication Year: 2018. The following article features reviewed published codes of conduct and ethics in data science by the authors to create a list of the top 12 areas that should be covered in a data science ethics curriculum. They note that no single code or framework published address all 12 themes simultaneously. They encourage educational programs in data science…

Data Science Jobs are Growing, but Not All Students are Given Ethics Trainings Before Starting Their Careers

by

Author: Jeffrey C. Oliver, Torbet McNeil; Publisher: Insider; Publication Year: 2021. The following article discusses how the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says job opportunities in data science will grow by 15% by 2029, and as a result, the number of students and programs centering around data science is growing as well. However, out of the degree programs Business Insider investigated, only 50% of them required any…