DataEthics

Dataain’t magicQuinnUnderriner

Howdoyoucreatethelargestamountofwealthevergeographicallycentralizedinhumanhistory?A:Arbitrage!OrastheysayonWallStreet– buylow,sellhigh

Peoplesignificantlymispricethevalueoftheirowndata(notthatmanyareevendoingthiscalculation,orawareofthetransactiontheyareparticipatingin)

Largest5companiesin2007 Largest5companiesin2017

Q:WhydidAmazongetitsstartasabookseller?

Sowhatisyourdataworth?

InCaesar’s(thecasino)chapter11bankruptcyfilingsomecreditorsvaluedtheir“TotalRewards”customerloyaltyprogramdataat$1billion,makingittheirlargestasset(aheadofphysicalassetholdings!)

WhydidMicrosoftbuyLinkedin for$26.2billion?–Consumerdata!Whileitshardtobreakdownspecificcosts(forreference,theirrevenuein2015wasonly$2.9billion).

Simplemathshowsus$260permonthlyactiveuser

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/whats-your-data-worth/

Whatcandatabrokersfigureoutaboutyou?

Souhwhohasmydata?

http://juliaangwin.com/privacy-tools-opting-out-from-data-brokers/

Averynon-exhaustivelistofshiftybehavior

Bosewirelessheadphonesnotingyourlisteningpreferencestobesoldtoathird-party

TargetpredictedateenagegirlinMinnesotawaspregnantbeforeherparentsknewandsenthertargetedpregnancyadvertisements

Facebookleakshowstheycreate“ghostprofiles”ofpeoplewhoarenon-users

Vizio TVstrackingwhattelevisionshowsyouwatchtosellto3rd parties

Mypersonalfavoriteprivacyviolation:

SilverPush,Drawbridge,andFlurryandotherdataadvertisingcompanieswhousedinaudiblenoisestolinkyourdevices

Unroll.meCEOJojo Hedaya saidthatitwas“heartbreakingtoseethatsomeofouruserswereupsettolearnabouthowwemonetizeourfreeservice.”

Astudy fromCarnegieMellonestimatesthatitwouldcosttheU.S.economy$781billionifpeopleactuallyreadalltheprivacypolicestheycameacrossinayear(andthiswasin2008!)

Whoevenreadstheprivacypolices?

DoAmerican’scareaboutprivacy?

Some 74%sayitis“veryimportant”tothemthattheybe incontrolofwhocangetinformation aboutthem,and65%sayitis“veryimportant”tothemtocontrolwhatinformationiscollectedaboutthem.

Fully91%ofadultsagreeorstronglyagreethatconsumershavelostcontrolofhowpersonalinformationiscollectedandusedbycompanies

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/21/the-state-of-privacy-in-america/

• Generally“pro-business”

• Regulationsareapatchworkindustryand/orstatespecificlaws(e.g.,HIPPAforHealthcare,COPPAforchildren)

• Opt–outconsent

• SnowdenrevelationcausedsignificantinternationalangerandcausedtheEuropeanCourtofJusticetoinvalidatethedatasharingagreement(theSafeHarborAgreement)betweenUSandEU

• Thiswasreplacedbythe“PrivacyShield”,whichiscurrentlyonshakyground

• PrivacyconsideredafundamentalhumanrightinEU(helpedbyahistoricalfearoffascism)whichallows,forexample,forthe“RighttobeForgotten”

• StrongCentralizedPrivacyRegulation

• Opt–inconsent

U.S.vs.EU

BriefhistoryofEU- U.S.regulations• EU negotiated the Safe Harbor Agreement of 2000 to allow U.S. companies and organizations to meet EU

data protection requirements and permit the legal transfer of personal data between EU member countries and the United States

• Snowden revelation in June 2013 caused uproar, and eventually, in October 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the safe harbor agreement

• This scared the 4,500 U.S. companies who relied on this system

• In February 2016 U.S. & EU announced agreement “in principle” on a revised accord, called the Privacy Shield

• detailed notice obligations, data retention limits, tightened conditions for onward transfers and liability regime, more stringent data integrity and purpose limitation principles, strengthened security requirements, increased enforcement from the FTC ability to dispute data beyond FTC with multiple redress opportunities

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44257.pdf

PostSnowden,companieshavestartedreleasing“TransparencyReports”

SamplefromGoogle OtherOrganizationsthatproduceTransparencyReports

*Ifyoudon’treadCathyO’Neil’sblogmathbabe,you’remakingamistake

HowCathyO’Neilcharacterizes“WeaponsofMathDestruction”I. Algorithmsthatsignificantlyimpactpeopleslives.Shetouchesonsystemssuchas:

I. loanratesII. prisonsentencingIII. teacherevaluations

II.Blackboxsystems:I. Doestheuserunderstandhow(andevenif)theyarebeingratedII. Asmachinelearninggetsmoresophisticated,thisproblemwillbeexacerbated

III.Doesitcreateanegativefeedbackloop?:I. Istheiramechanismtotestandchangethesystemforbiasesanderrors?

CreditScoresvs.“E-scores(databrokers)”

I. Creditscores:

• Governmentalregulation• Provideclearadviceonhowtoraise

score• Legal(ifinefficient)righttoexamine

yourscore• Legal(ifinefficient)righttochallenge

andcorrectunderlyingdata• Modelscanseewhoactuallydefaults

andthencorrectthemselves

II.E-scores:

• Noregulation• Nounderstandonconsumer

nameofbuckettheyareplacedinto,muchlessunderlyingdatacollected

• Manydon’tallowrightofremoval

• Unclearhowtheyself-correct

WhatshouldIdo?

Privacyissuesaremuchmoreeasilyhandledatthedesignphase:• DataMinimization:Onlystoredatathatisdirectlypertinenttoyourwork• DataRetention:Doyouhaveaprocesstoremoveunneededdataatregularintervals?

• Youcan’tbeforcedtoturnoverdatayoudon’thave,norcanyouhaveadatabreachwithuserinfoyouhavedeleted

Dataqualityissoimportant!Thinkcriticallyaboutthehumanbiasesinherentinthecollectionofthedatayouareusing• Forexample,ifpolicinghasaquantifiableracialbias,shouldyouusehistoricalarrestdatawithoutanycorrections?

• Dataispoliticalandwasinsomewaycollectedbyahuman• GarbageinGarbageout(justaskNateSilver!)

TheHippocraticOathforDataScientists

• Isolemnlypledgetopracticemyprofessionwithconscienceanddignity;

• Torespecttheprivacyofthepeoplewhosedataisconfidedinme;• TomaintaintheutmostrespectfortheindividualswhosedataIamanalyzing;

• Tobetransparent,open,andhonestaboutthetypeofanalysisIamapplyingtotheirdata;

• Toneverusemyknowledgetoviolatehumanrightsandcivilliberties,evenunderthreat

https://allthingsanalytics.com/2013/07/08/the-hippocratic-oath-for-the-data-scientist/