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Data Ethics for Regular Developers - rubyconf 2018

Colin
November 13, 2018

Data Ethics for Regular Developers - rubyconf 2018

Colin

November 13, 2018
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  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. HMM WHAT’S IN THE NEWS TODAY OH DEAR:
 • EXPERIAN

    BREACH? • FACEBOOK/GOOGLE BREACH OF THE MONTH?? • PALANTIR ROBOCOP ALGORITHMS???
  3. OUR ROADMAP FOR THIS TALK:
 • CRASH COURSE IN ETHICAL

    REASONING • IDENTIFYING OUR VALUES • A FEW CASE STUDIES
  4. ETHICS IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ACT IN A WAY INFORMED

    BY SHARED AND PERSONAL VALUES (MORE OR LESS)
  5. ACM ETHICS SUMMARY: • EVERYONE IS A STAKEHOLDER IN COMPUTING

    • AVOID HARM AND PROTECT PRIVACY • AVOID YOLO-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
  6. 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
  7. OUR VALUES AS AN ENGINEERING TEAM: • COLLECTING DATA IS

    RISKY SO DO IT CAREFULLY • AVOID DOING MAD SCIENCE
  8. THREE CASE STUDIES:
 • ASKING FOR DATA IN THE FIRST

    PLACE • TRACKING IMMIGRATION STATUS • PREDICTIVE MODELING
  9. 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?
  10. FIRST AND A HALF: THE POWER DYNAMICS OF ASKING FOR

    DATA IN THE FIRST PLACE (AS A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS)
  11. I’M OUT OF STUFF TO TALK ABOUT:
 • PREPARE TO

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