Data Ethics
At Open Innovations, we believe that open data can change the world and to ensure it changes the world for the better, it needs to be used ethically. But as more and more data is created and we become more dependent on it, ethical behaviour becomes increasingly complex.
There is lots of talk on the web trying to answer this question - lengthy, complicated legislation and uninspired ramblings about the importance of ethics take centre stage - but is anyone actually doing anything?
What we need to know is how legislation is used in practice and what dedication to ethical practices looks like in real life. That’s why this project explores the tools and techniques that are used to identify and mitigate unethical behaviour.
The outputs of our exploration, including resource collections, outstanding tools and talks, and our blog posts will be showcased right here on our Data Ethics project page. All of this is still work in progress, so stop by again in a while to check in on our progress. And if you’ve got a passion for data ethics and want to get involved don’t hesitate to reach out to hello@open-innovations.org.
Blog Posts
We believe that being ethical starts with being open about it, so we've written up all of our ethics related work in these blog posts.
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Data Ethics: A starting point
What is data ethics, why should you care and why we are getting involved?
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Data Ethics: Project Check In
First findings from our exploration of data ethics resources.
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A good talk about good data - An interview about data ethics with Sam Gilbert
We had an interview with Sam Gilbert, author of "Good Data" about data ethics and how it can be actioned.
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In conversation with Olivier Thereaux: Exploring the field of data ethics
We talked to Olivier Thereaux from the Open Data Institute about where data ethics is going next.
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Building Trust in Data Trusts - A talk with Jessica Montgomery
We had a conversation about data trusts with Jessica Montgomery, Director of the Data Trusts Initiative.
Resources
In our exploration we have come across a lot of useful guidelines, tools and other resources.
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Data Ethics Resource Collection
We've collected descriptions and links to all the useful resources we've come across in our exploration in this Google Sheet. Add some more if you'd like!
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Open Data Manchester's Declaration for Responsible and Intelligent Data Practice
Open Data Manchester declared their ethical principles and are inviting others to join.
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DataKind UK's Practitioner's Guide: Data Ethics Toolkits v1.0
DataKind UK's exploration and review of available data ethics tools.
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The Open Data Institute's Data Ethics Canvas
The Data Ethics Canvas helps identify and manage ethical issues throughout your projects.
Talks
This isn't the first time we've gotten involved with Data Ethics. We've had experts on the topic speak at our events and you can rewatch their presentations right here.