Big Data Ethics (was: recent scholarship wrt privacy law, obligations, legal theories & frameworks

And, building upon Solove's work, there's this...


Big Data Ethics
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2384174

Neil M. Richards
Jonathan H. King

January 23, 2014

Wake Forest Law Review, 2014

Abstract:

We are on the cusp of a "Big Data" Revolution, in which increasingly large 
datasets are mined for important predictions and often surprising insights. 
The predictions and decisions this revolution will enable will transform our 
society in ways comparable to the Industrial Revolution. We are now at a 
critical moment; big data uses today will be sticky and will settle both 
default norms and public notions of what is "no big deal" regarding big data 
predictions for years to come.

In this paper, we argue that big data, broadly defined, is producing 
increased powers of institutional awareness and power that require the 
development of a Big Data Ethics. We are building a new digital society, and 
the values we build or fail to build into our new digital structures will 
define us. Critically, if we fail to balance the human values that we care 
about, like privacy, confidentiality, transparency, identity and free choice 
with the compelling uses of big data, our Big Data Society risks abandoning 
these values for the sake of innovation and expediency.

In Part I, we trace the origins and rapid growth of the Information 
Revolution. In Part II, we call for the development of a "Big Data Ethics," 
a set of four related principles that should govern data flows in our 
information society, and inform the establishment of big data norms. First, 
we must recognize "privacy" as an inevitable system of information rules 
rather than merely secrecy. Second, we must recognize that shared private 
information can remain "confidential." Third, we must recognize that big 
data requires transparency. Fourth, we must recognize that big data can 
compromise identity. In Part III, we suggest how we might integrate big data 
ethics into our society. Law will be an important part of Big Data Ethics, 
but so too must the establishment of ethical principles and best practices 
that guide government, corporations, and users. We must all be part of the 
conversation, and part of the solution. Big Data Ethics are for everyone.

Received on Wednesday, 14 May 2014 23:00:10 UTC