Anyone who wants to believe in it, finds their priests: dataism. Last summer, I read the book entitled ‘Friction’ by philosopher Miriam Rasch. She defines dataism as the sacred belief in data as an explanatory model for reality and as … Read More
In a new study that digs into the meaning of data ethics in the context of the power dynamics of AI and big data, DataEthics.eu’s co-founder Gry Hasselbalch argues that data ethics has to become more than just a moral … Read More
Google has read the writing on the wall. With Firefox and Safari blocking tracking cookies by default and privacy legislation continuing to evolve, Google, through the Chromium project, has been developing a new suite of tools to preserve their business … Read More
Abstract This article investigates a moment of the big data age in which artificial intelligence became a fixed point of global negotiations between different interests in data. In particular, it traces and explicates cultural positioning as an interest in the … Read More
Analysis. Products and services, which try to embed privacy and work ethically responsible with data, are finally progressing. It is uphill to compete with monopoly tech’s convenient and dirt cheap or ‘free’ products, but more and more individuals seem to … Read More
Trained birds, especially pigeons, have a long history in espionage practices. A Dutch Company, called the Drone Bird Company, found a new way of using birds, well not actual birds, in order to get an overview of a situation or … Read More
March 16th 2020 The Netherlands went into a semi-lock down. Schools and universities had to close because of the strict regulations to prevent the Covid-19 from spreading. Universities had to make a quick transition to digital alternatives in order to … Read More
The inversion of democracy is a slow process of getting used to less and less freedom. In moments of crisis, there is a big risk that we make choices about adopting public health tech too hastily and without considerations as … Read More
Public Institutions Can Lead the Way to Trustworthy AI Many European public institutions have installed or want to install a chatbot on their website to serve their citizens 24/7. But which service provider should they chose? There are a whole … Read More
By Francesco Lapenta, professor and director of John Cabot University Institute of Future and Innovation Studies in Rome Analysis. The early response to a unique, but not unprecedented or unpredictable global biological crisis has been chaotic, profoundly un-collaborative and characterized … Read More
Over the last couple of years, many companies, institutions, governments and ethicists have proposed their own principles for the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in an ethical way. Most of the guidelines include principles about fairness, accountability and transparency, but … Read More
Technologies are not neutral, neither are choices in the public procurement of AI. The AI systems we deploy today are the systems we will live with tomorrow. Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping the opportunities of European citizens and transforming their … Read More
This white paper recommends the inclusion of data ethics requirements in the public procurement of AI-based services and solutions. To this end, a procurement model should include a due diligence process. This makes it possible for the public procurer to … Read More
Did you know that the Spanish Comunidad Valenciana is the only European region that protects their student’s privacy in public schools through open source tools and platforms? Many other schools in Europe are using big tech mainly from the US … Read More
The strategy is ambitious on advancing the European AI uptake and taking back control over a European data space. But it lacks ambition when creating the conditions for a thriving ethical and trustworthy AI and data space. On 19th February … Read More
In a town in the southern part of the Netherlands a futuristic neighbourhood is about to be built. ‘BrainPort SmartDistrict’ will be a neighbourhood for citizens of the future. In this analysis I explain how the project was criticized for not embedding privacy and putting the residents at the center – and then how the project changed focus. But despite a new focus, there are still many ethical questions to be asked and discussed – the most important being: It is desired? … Read More
What if we individuals had a platform where we could access and control of all our health data; from medical investigations to the data collected by our wearables and health apps. A Dutch lawyer is proposing such a platform, but … Read More
In 1996 David Brin published a thought experiment on Wired. During an evening in Hamburg I discussed this thought experiment, but I wouldn’t have thought that only a day later arriving in Copenhagen for the Data Ethics Forum, this thought … Read More
By Gry Hasselbalch and Sille Obelitz Søe How can we trust AI? This is one of the most pressing questions we are facing at the moment with the rapid speed in development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning algorithms. … Read More
Summary of Research Article: Data ethics is gaining momentum. Citizens are starting to act on their lack of control over their data, legislation is adapting, and alternative business models and technologies are emerging. But what shape is our ethical awareness … Read More
Analysis. Late April 2019, Denmark was blessed with the formation of a Data Ethics Board. We were many who perhaps was a bit dazzled by this and may have lowered our guards a bit. However, at the exact same time, … Read More
The EU’s first ethics guidelines on AI have been published. Dataethics.eu’s cofounder Gry Hasselbalch is a member of the EC High Level Expert Group that developed the guidelines. She sat down on the day of the launch and outlined her … Read More
Analysis. Permissionless public blockchain technology could challenge large social networks such as Facebook, where users have to accept the fact that they have to give away their data in order to be a part of the network. With the European … Read More
Analysis. Micro-targeting and data analytics in political campaigns disregard voters’ personal privacy and they cannot make truly informed choices. Facebook is lying when they say they don’t sell data and chose profits over security. And social media should be accountable … Read More
Analysis. The French data protection authority, CNIL, finds that Google – with its dominant market position and its economic model based on data – deprives users of essential privacy rights, and thus has issued the biggest fine ever of 50 … Read More
Analysis. In the discussion of decision-making in autonomous cars we must be aware of the data these system have access to. On what basis are autonomous cars going to determine humans right to life? And are we willing to take … Read More
The new European legislative environment changes the relationship between users and their online data. Part of this change is represented by users gaining more control over who and when gets access to what type of personal information. In this context, … Read More
Translation of the chapter (written in 2017) from the book Eksponeret (Danish, Gads Forlag, May 2018). Citation: Hasselbalch G., “AI: The Data Ethics Perspective”, translation from Eksponeret, Gads Forlag, 2018. Artificial intelligent technologies are complex data processing systems that pose several ethical … Read More
Pop the champagne corks. In a few weeks, GDPR is going to take effect throughout all of Europe. And at the last moment, some member states have decided to lower the digital age of consent to 13 – under the … Read More
Analysis. Personal data can help develop societies. We use data to predict patterns and manage risks, to invent new vaccines, get effective access to information, create new and cleaner technologies. But, in the case of predictions based on personal data, … Read More
Blog. Facebook’s ‘Custom Audience’ gives you access to new customers that look like you current customers – it gives you ‘lookalikes’ and it is the most powerful weapon in the Facebook ads arsenal. According to a former Facebook product manager; … Read More
Data protection impact assessments (DPIA), also referred to as Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA), are compulsory under the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). But ensuring an organization or business’ data protection compliance now and in the future is the … Read More
Analysis. Ethics, privacy, regulation, accountability and the survival of humanity were major issues at this year’s World Economic Forum 2018 in Davos, which ended on Friday, January 26th. It was all about data and the many possibilities, and especially the … Read More
Blog. There are multiple opportunities for the future workplace, when it comes to using data. ISS, the Danish cleaning service and facility management company, is an interesting case. Due to privacy laws in Europe, the global company is reluctant to … Read More
Analysis. The big data challenge in 2018 in will be to maintain digital trust. In government, in companies and in each other. In Europe, new groundbreaking privacy rules are in place that ensure the individual’s right to control his own … Read More
Analysis. We are about to outsource the human brain to the computer without having a debate about where we set the limits. Has human and human authority climaxed, and are we heading into a post-human era where artificial intelligent robots … Read More
Analysis. Your customers are the best source of rich, relevant, recent, true and personalized data about themselves. In stead of collecting data from multiple more or less valid sources, it is smarter handing over the control of their data to … Read More
Analysis. In the past, the word blockchain was automatically associated with cryptocurrencies. Such a system designed for digital transactions is Bitcoin, with opinions around it being split between supporters and critics. Enthusiasm for Etherum, a new game player, reached new … Read More
Analysis. In order to find out what cures a disease, one has to first figure what are its causes. My thesis’ first part was concerned with putting the diagnose – What kills democracy when political debate happens online, on Facebook? … Read More
Many politicians, action groups and activists use Facebook to mobilize supporters for a particular political cause. But is Facebook the ideal platform for public political debate? Far from it, I say. Instead, Facebook transforms politics into a popularity contest. The … Read More
Chapter from the book Data Ethics – the New Competitive Advantage, published September 2016. “We’re concerned that the EC’s proposed data protection reforms will put European businesses at a competitive disadvantage in a global market, by placing restrictive controls and … Read More
Analysis. We ask artificially intelligent systems to make order in our messy modern realities, but very rarely do we question what type of order. This is a call for an historical awareness of the social systems that we are building: … Read More
Analysis. When preparing for the GDPR, it is crucial for companies to understand that there is a fundamental difference between data protection/data privacy and data security/information security. Especially IT pros seems to believe encryption, firewalls, ISO-standards and the likes are … Read More
Research. The current model of consent is impractical and illusory, turning a tool that is supposed to empower individuals to make informed choices into a tool that submerges users in unread privacy notices that they accept as the de facto … Read More
by Gemma Galdon Clavell, Eticas, Barcelona ANALYSIS: The human rights, civil liberties and societal implications of securing borders through data processing, mining and matching are receiving little consideration. Travellers give away their data and biometrics to authorities with little awareness … Read More
Analysis. Wire. Disconnect. Startpage. Protonmail. TomTom. HelloClue. These are all companies which can be categorized as part of a new and growing market for ‘Privacy Tech’ aimed at consumers. Data Gravity, Privacy Perfect, Privacy Cheq and One Trust are part … Read More
Analysis. Laws are not enough. We need ethically driven innovation in the Age of Intelligent Machines, was one of the key conclusions of the CPDP. Here is first a summation of the intervention at one of the panels (Ethics, Observational … Read More
Analysis. If the new EU data protection regulation is enforced equally for EU and non-EU companies, supported by anti-trust and consumer protection laws, new types of data-based monopolization could be controlled. In this millennium’s first decade, a thriving social network … Read More
Analyse. Hvad er et privatliv? Når virksomheder og regeringer i dag fremhæver deres særlige rolle som beskyttere af retten til privatliv, kan man godt forledes til at tro, at vi har en fælles forståelse af, hvad det er der skal … Read More
Analysis: What is privacy ? When companies and governments emphasize their special role as protectors of the right to privacy, one might be led to believe that we in society have a shared understanding of what privacy is. But although … Read More
Analysis. In both Europe and the US insurance companies have started calculating premiums according to how we behave. If we behave ‘properly’, we get a lower premium or even direct payment. It is a great advantage for many, especially the young … Read More
Analysis. There are several things that should bother me about ”House of Cards,” (HoC) season 4, most af all the simplicity. For instance, how binary the top players in the world’s most powerful administration appear; they are either strong or … Read More
Analysis. Before you buy a wearable to track your health, then check whether you can trust the company behind the gadget. Products for the quantified-self-segment are a lucrative business growing rapidly, because they really are motivating to use. But most … Read More
ANALYSIS. Products in the digital economy must be ethical- and secure- by design. That is one of the major takeaways in a brand new global report from Accenture. The research company identifies five fundamental forces in today’s digital economy. Besides … Read More
ANALYSIS: This January the European Data Protection Supervisor presented his new “Ethics Advisory Group”. A group of experts that will help him “reconsider the ethical dimension of the relationships between human rights, technology, markets and business models and their implications … Read More
Analysis. Some public websites are starting to clean out the use of so-called third-party cookies – those who share personal information with others. Websites with advertising are more dependent on tracking cookies – also called small spies. Yet, many public … Read More
Analysis. Data and propaganda is dangerous combo. The ongoing US election campaign sets new standards for voter manipulation. Senator Ted Cruz, Republican, has harvested millions of Facebook data to analyze and influence the choices of voters. Not with facts, but … Read More
Analysis. The latest consumer surveys show that the business model – tracking-by-default – where you pay with your personal data without knowing how much and to whom – is suffering. Individuals want control over their own lives, and they have … Read More
(Image from the Ethics of Algorithms project, Center for Internet and Human Rights) Blog: How can we question the ethics of a service if we don’t have access to the details of how it is designed to act on data? … Read More
Analysis: Toy manufacturers are today creating intelligent toys that remember, find patterns and respond to data from children. We need a data ethical approach to innovation in the development of an “Internet of Things” for children.
While US companies and the US government fear the consequences of the Safe Harbour ruling of the European Court of Justice, the European companies should be optimistic. In the short term the ruling can cause confusion, but in the longer term it … Read More
Analysis: The evolution from one type of society to another has effected an interpretation of the right to privacy in an online context.In 1992 the public gained access to the former Eastern Germany secret service Stasi archives. They consisted of 180 kilometers … Read More
