Data Ethics for Regular Developers - rubyconf 2018

Transcript

1. DATA ETHICS FOR REGULAR DEVELOPERS: WHAT WE CAN LEARN ABOUT

   DATA ETHICS BY PRETENDING TO NOT KNOW WHAT PRINGLES ARE ONLINE COLIN FLEMING @RIDETHECATBUS

2. CONTENT WARNING
 • DISCUSSION OF DEATH • DISCUSSION OF ABORTION

   CARE

3. IMAGINE AN INVENTION THAT MAKES TELEPORTATION POSSIBLE

4. BUT THERE IS A COST

5. SURPRISE! THE INVENTION IS CARS

6. DOUBLE SURPRISE! PEOPLE’S DATA IS FUEL

7. HMM WHAT’S IN THE NEWS TODAY OH DEAR:
 • EXPERIAN

   BREACH? • FACEBOOK/GOOGLE BREACH OF THE MONTH?? • PALANTIR ROBOCOP ALGORITHMS???

8. REGULAR DEVELOPERS STARE DOWN THESE ETHICAL QUESTIONS ALL THE TIME

9. OUR ROADMAP FOR THIS TALK:
 • CRASH COURSE IN ETHICAL

   REASONING • IDENTIFYING OUR VALUES • A FEW CASE STUDIES

10. ETHICS IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ACT IN A WAY INFORMED

    BY SHARED AND PERSONAL VALUES (MORE OR LESS)
11. None

12. PROGRAMMER CODES OF ETHICS (LIKE THE ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY’S)

    ARE A THING!

13. ACM ETHICS SUMMARY: • EVERYONE IS A STAKEHOLDER IN COMPUTING

    • AVOID HARM AND PROTECT PRIVACY • AVOID YOLO-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT

14. THE DC ABORTION FUND’S VALUES (ROUGHLY):
 • EMPOWER CLIENTS TO

    CARRY OUT THEIR CHOICES • ASKING SLIGHTLY INTRUSIVE QUESTIONS IS OKAY IF IT COULD IMPROVE HOW WE WORK

15. OUR VALUES AS AN ENGINEERING TEAM: • COLLECTING DATA IS

    RISKY SO DO IT CAREFULLY • AVOID DOING MAD SCIENCE

16. THREE CASE STUDIES:
 • ASKING FOR DATA IN THE FIRST

    PLACE • TRACKING IMMIGRATION STATUS • PREDICTIVE MODELING

17. ETHICAL QUESTIONS TO ASK:
 • IS THIS IN LINE WITH

    OUR VALUES? • DOES THIS PUT PEOPLE IN HARM’S WAY? • WOULD THIS SURPRISE SOMEONE? • WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU BLOW IT?

18. FIRST: THE POWER DYNAMICS OF ASKING FOR DATA IN THE

    FIRST PLACE

19. FIRST: ASKING FOR DATA: DOES IT PUT PEOPLE IN HARM’S

    WAY?

20. FIRST: ASKING FOR DATA: WOULD THIS SURPRISE SOMEONE?

21. FIRST: ASKING FOR DATA: WHAT HAPPENS IF WE BLOW IT?

22. FIRST AND A HALF: THE POWER DYNAMICS OF ASKING FOR

    DATA IN THE FIRST PLACE (AS A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS)

23. SECOND: TRACKING DANGEROUS DATA LIKE IMMIGRATION STATUS

24. TRACKING IMMIGRATION STATUS BECAUSE IT’S HELPFUL FOR SERVING PATIENTS

25. NOT TRACKING IMMIGRATION STATUS BECAUSE I.C.E. IS A THING NOW

26. SECOND AND A HALF: TRACKING DANGEROUS DATA LIKE IMMIGRATION STATUS

    (AS A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS)

27. THIRD: THE ALGO AND PREDICTIVE MODELING

28. THIRD AND A HALF: THE ALGO AND PREDICTIVE MODELING (AS

    A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS)

29. I’M OUT OF STUFF TO TALK ABOUT:
 • PREPARE TO

    WORK THROUGH ETHICAL QUESTIONS • THINK HARD ABOUT YOUR VALUES AND POWER • CHARGE IN HEADFIRST

30. THANKS •JAMEY, ETHICAL DECISIONS TRACK CURATOR •SOUND PERSON

31. I AM: COLIN FLEMING MY EMAIL: C3FLEMIN@GMAIL.COM MY TWITTER: @RIDETHECATBUS