Page 104 - The Real Work Of Data Science Turning Data Into Information, Better Decisions, And Stronger Organizations by Ron S. Kenett, Thomas C. Redman (z-lib.org)_Neat

Appendix D

Ethical Considerations and Today’s

Data Scientist

Privacy and ethical considerations have always been of concern for data scientists, but the
increasing breadth and depth of available data raises these concerns to new levels. This is especially
true for behavioral big data (BBD) that captures human and social actions and interactions in
increasing breadth and level of detail. Such concerns include:

1. Data collection can change the subjects’ behaviors.
2. The study design and analysis can harm subjects and put them at risk in intangible ways.
3. The study design is complicated by free will.
4. With time, data properties can change in response to evolving inquiry or examination
methods.

Developing data analytic applications for autonomous cars provides an excellent example. In
designing collision avoidance software that uses real‐time data acquisition methods and pattern
recognition algorithms, the data scientist may be faced with alternatives having ethical implica-
tions. Should the car, faced with an inevitable crash, hit the kid running fast from the right or
the older person moving slowly from the left? There are no other options and both choices are
terrible. These issues are not typically addressed by internal review boards that are compulsory
in clinical research. For a comprehensive treatment of these issues, see Shmueli (2017).
Today, data scientists are front and center in growing concerns about privacy and data
protection. “Privacy” is a slippery concept, with considerable national, generational, and
individual variation in perspective. Ultimately, the idea is that individuals ought to have a fair
say in how data about them is used. For example, one individual may encourage marketers to
individualize the ads he or she sees based on search history but not wish to have political
parties do the same thing. And the 2018 Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandals have added
an urgency and political dimension to the discussions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal).

The Real Work of Data Science: Turning Data into Information, Better Decisions, and Stronger Organizations,
First Edition. Ron S. Kenett and Thomas C. Redman.
© 2019 Ron S. Kenett and Thomas C. Redman. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/kenett-redman/datascience