Ethical Issues

The Data Landscape: "Have you ever noticed how strangely bucolic the world of data is?" - Maciej Ceglowski (2015)

Bucolic. I had absolutely no idea what this meant when I listened to the video. But upon research, the definition: relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life, and the ensuing diagram in the presentation created a lovely snapshot of the concept.

The challenge that Mr. Ceglowski raised was for us (the audience) to consider data as an "Evil, radioactive waste product. Sludge."

The introduction to data being an ethical problem was raised for me at this stage. Over the course of the presentation, a couple of quotes stuck out to me.

"None of us now how to safely contain (data)".

"We kill people based on meta-data" - Michael Hayden (former director of the CIA)

Above anything else, my reflection of this presentation was the fact that it is common for people to assume they have control over their data. But several common misconceptions are just how much data is used and stored on a daily basis, and where that data can end up. It is well and truly out of control.

Philosophy -

"We live in an age of data abundance. We produce data every day – as people, businesses, charities and governments – that might be used to generate valuable insights and services". - Ellen Broad (2017)

I loved this quote as an illustration of the sheer magnitude that data has as a presence in modern society. Ethically, this will form an issue due primarily to the quantity of data being generated at all times. The notion that it is not in our control removes the accountability of people to have on it.

Privacy and Anonymity -

A fascinating case study of Will Ockenden with respect to meta-data was the standout of this research.

I think that many people my age (and older) have had at least one conversation about meta-data at one stage or another. It became a particularly relevant topic when Triple J featured it on its Hack program.

"The public's analysis has been at times scarily accurate.

They've trawled through everything very, very thoroughly. A year of my life has been given a very good going over. They picked up on the major trips, the work times, my habits and more." - Will Ockenden.

Having had a thorough look in to these parts of data - it has become particularly clear that the utmost care must be taken with analysis and use of data to avoid walking an ethical grey area.