The Problem
As companies jockey for competitive advantage in the digital age, they are increasingly penalized for the abuse of data. In 2018 the Cambridge Analytica scandal alone wiped $36 billion off Facebook’s market value and resulted in fines of nearly $6 billion for Meta, Facebook’s parent firm.
See Also
Ethical mining: the path of small-scale mining organizations - FairminedEthics In Data Analytics: Key Ethical GuidelinesEthics in Data Collection: Why Responsible Web Scraping MattersThe Ethics of Data Collection and AnalyticsWhy It Happens
Most problems arise from (1) ethical failures in data sourcing, (2) using data for purposes other than those initially communicated, (3) lack of security in storing it, (4) how it is anonymized, and (5) how it’s prepared for use.
See Also
The Ethics of Data MiningThe Solution
Companies should create a special unit to review projects involving people’s data. In its reviews this unit should carefully consider the five Ps of data safety: provenance, purpose, protection, privacy, and preparation.
