Data Ethics of Power takes a reflective and fresh look at the ethical implications of transforming everyday life and the world through the effortless, costless, and seamless accumulation of extra layers of data. By shedding light on the constant tensions that exist between ethical principles and the interests invested in this socio-technical transformation, the book bridges the theory and practice divide in the study of the power dynamics that underpin these processes of the digitalization of the world. Gry Hasselbalch expertly draws on nearly two decades of experience in the field, and key literature, to advance a better understanding of the challenges faced by big data and AI developers. She provides an innovative ethical framework for studying and governing Big-Data and Artificial Intelligence. Offering both a historical account and a theoretical analysis of power dynamics and their ethical implications, as well as incisive ideas to guide future research and governance practices, the book makes a significant contribution to the establishment of an emerging data and AI ethics discipline. This timely book is a must-read for scholars studying AI, data, and technology ethics. Policymakers in the regulatory, governance, public administration, and management sectors will find the practical proposals for a human-centric approach to big data and AI to be a valuable resource for revising and developing future policies.

Data Ethics of Power takes a reflective and fresh look at the ethical implications of transforming everyday life and the world through the effortless, costless, and seamless accumulation of extra layers of data. By shedding light on the constant tensions that exist between ethical principles and the interests invested in this socio-technical transformation, the book bridges the theory and practice divide in the study of the power dynamics that underpin these processes of the digitalization of the world.

The essential guide for ethical decision-making in the 21st century, The Power of Ethics depicts “ethical decision-making not in a nebulous philosophical space, but at the point where the rubber meets the road” (Michael Schur, producer and creator of The Good Place). It’s not your imagination: we’re living in a time of moral decline. Publicly, we’re bombarded with reports of government leaders acting against the welfare of their constituents; companies prioritizing profits over health, safety, and our best interests; and technology posing risks to society with few or no repercussions for those responsible. Personally, we may be conflicted about how much privacy to afford our children on the internet; how to make informed choices about our purchases and the companies we buy from; or how to handle misconduct we witness at home and at work. How do we find a way forward? Today’s ethical challenges are increasingly gray, often without a clear right or wrong solution, causing us to teeter on the edge of effective decision-making. With concentrated power structures, rapid advances in technology, and insufficient regulation to protect citizens and consumers, ethics are harder to understand than ever. But in The Power of Ethics, Susan Liautaud shows how ethics can be used to create a sea change of positive decisions that can ripple outward to our families, communities, workplaces, and the wider world—offering unprecedented opportunity for good. Drawing on two decades as an ethics advisor guiding corporations and leaders, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and students in her Stanford University ethics courses, Susan Liautaud provides clarity to blurry ethical questions, walking you through a straightforward, four-step process for ethical decision-making you can use every day. Liautaud also explains the six forces driving virtually every ethical choice we face. Exploring some of today’s most challenging ethics dilemmas and showing you how to develop a clear point of view, speak out with authority, make effective decisions, and contribute to a more ethical world for yourself and others, The Power of Ethics is the must-have ethics guide for the 21st century.

The ethics of data and analytics, in many ways, is no different than any endeavor to find the "right" answer. When a business chooses a supplier, funds a new product, or hires an employee, managers are making decisions with moral implications. The decisions in business, like all decisions, have a moral component in that people can benefit or be harmed, rules are followed or broken, people are treated fairly or not, and rights are enabled or diminished. However, data analytics introduces wrinkles or moral hurdles in how to think about ethics. Questions of accountability, privacy, surveillance, bias, and power stretch standard tools to examine whether a decision is good, ethical, or just. Dealing with these questions requires different frameworks to understand what is wrong and what could be better. Ethics of Data and Analytics: Concepts and Cases does not search for a new, different answer or to ban all technology in favor of human decision-making. The text takes a more skeptical, ironic approach to current answers and concepts while identifying and having solidarity with others. Applying this to the endeavor to understand the ethics of data and analytics, the text emphasizes finding multiple ethical approaches as ways to engage with current problems to find better solutions rather than prioritizing one set of concepts or theories. The book works through cases to understand those marginalized by data analytics programs as well as those empowered by them. Three themes run throughout the book. First, data analytics programs are value-laden in that technologies create moral consequences, reinforce or undercut ethical principles, and enable or diminish rights and dignity. This places an additional focus on the role of developers in their incorporation of values in the design of data analytics programs. Second, design is critical. In the majority of the cases examined, the purpose is to improve the design and development of data analytics programs. Third, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are about power. The discussion of power—who has it, who gets to keep it, and who is marginalized—weaves throughout the chapters, theories, and cases. In discussing ethical frameworks, the text focuses on critical theories that question power structures and default assumptions and seek to emancipate the marginalized.

A new way of thinking about data science and data ethics that is informed by the ideas of intersectional feminism. Today, data science is a form of power. It has been used to expose injustice, improve health outcomes, and topple governments. But it has also been used to discriminate, police, and surveil. This potential for good, on the one hand, and harm, on the other, makes it essential to ask: Data science by whom? Data science for whom? Data science with whose interests in mind? The narratives around big data and data science are overwhelmingly white, male, and techno-heroic. In Data Feminism, Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein present a new way of thinking about data science and data ethics—one that is informed by intersectional feminist thought. Illustrating data feminism in action, D'Ignazio and Klein show how challenges to the male/female binary can help challenge other hierarchical (and empirically wrong) classification systems. They explain how, for example, an understanding of emotion can expand our ideas about effective data visualization, and how the concept of invisible labor can expose the significant human efforts required by our automated systems. And they show why the data never, ever “speak for themselves.” Data Feminism offers strategies for data scientists seeking to learn how feminism can help them work toward justice, and for feminists who want to focus their efforts on the growing field of data science. But Data Feminism is about much more than gender. It is about power, about who has it and who doesn't, and about how those differentials of power can be challenged and changed.

As the impact of data science continues to grow on society there is an increased need to discuss how data is appropriately used and how to address misuse. Yet, ethical principles for working with data have been available for decades. The real issue today is how to put those principles into action. With this report, authors Mike Loukides, Hilary Mason, and DJ Patil examine practical ways for making ethical data standards part of your work every day. To help you consider all of possible ramifications of your work on data projects, this report includes: A sample checklist that you can adapt for your own procedures Five framing guidelines (the Five C’s) for building data products: consent, clarity, consistency, control, and consequences Suggestions for building ethics into your data-driven culture Now is the time to invest in a deliberate practice of data ethics, for better products, better teams, and better outcomes. Get a copy of this report and learn what it takes to do good data science today.

The hidden costs of artificial intelligence, from natural resources and labor to privacy and freedom What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our understanding of ourselves and our societies? In this book Kate Crawford reveals how this planetary network is fueling a shift toward undemocratic governance and increased inequality. Drawing on more than a decade of research, award-winning science, and technology, Crawford reveals how AI is a technology of extraction: from the energy and minerals needed to build and sustain its infrastructure, to the exploited workers behind "automated" services, to the data AI collects from us. Rather than taking a narrow focus on code and algorithms, Crawford offers us a political and a material perspective on what it takes to make artificial intelligence and where it goes wrong. While technical systems present a veneer of objectivity, they are always systems of power. This is an urgent account of what is at stake as technology companies use artificial intelligence to reshape the world.

What are your organization’s policies for generating and using huge datasets full of personal information? This book examines ethical questions raised by the big data phenomenon, and explains why enterprises need to reconsider business decisions concerning privacy and identity. Authors Kord Davis and Doug Patterson provide methods and techniques to help your business engage in a transparent and productive ethical inquiry into your current data practices. Both individuals and organizations have legitimate interests in understanding how data is handled. Your use of data can directly affect brand quality and revenue—as Target, Apple, Netflix, and dozens of other companies have discovered. With this book, you’ll learn how to align your actions with explicit company values and preserve the trust of customers, partners, and stakeholders. Review your data-handling practices and examine whether they reflect core organizational values Express coherent and consistent positions on your organization’s use of big data Define tactical plans to close gaps between values and practices—and discover how to maintain alignment as conditions change over time Maintain a balance between the benefits of innovation and the risks of unintended consequences