Chapter 11

Data Privacy & Ethical Issues

 Introduction
Ethics is our continuous search for an answer: Behavior

Is this behavior right Ethics Right/

Theory Wrong?
or wrong?
Right Wrong

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 2

 Introduction
• Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct.
While they are sometimes used interchangeably, they are
different:
• Ethics → rules provided by an external source, Ex. codes of
conduct in workplaces or principles in religions
• Morals → an individual’s own principles regarding right and
wrong

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 3

 Introduction
Data ethics → is a new branch of ethics that studies and evaluates
moral problems related to
• data (including generation, recording, curation, processing,
dissemination, sharing, and use),
• Algorithms (including artificial intelligence, artificial agents, machine
learning, and robots) and
• Corresponding practices (including responsible innovation,
programming, hacking, and professional codes), too formulate and
support morally good solutions (e.g. right conducts or right values) –
Prof. Luciano Floridi

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 4

 Story Behind Data Ethics
• Technology has certainly created new
activities and behaviors, and this is the reason
the concept of data ethics exists and is
becoming more and more important today.
• As technology evolves, new ways of storing
and processing data are invented and the
quantity of information that can be shared
and stored is greater than ever.

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul Source 5

 Story Behind Data Ethics
1970s… Computers gain more and more power
and can contain more data
1980s… Data was adapted to the model-based
algorithms (classification and regression methods)
→ Algorithms identify patterns that give
significance to online traffic
1990s… Cybercrime, modems, and online forums
→ The world is interconnected and we begin to
communicate across borders, leaving data traces
everywhere, but still largely unaware of the
amount of data we leave behind

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 6

 Story Behind Data Ethics
2000s… Social media and piracy → New software
and technology creates a whole new world to
navigate and interact with, but there are a lot of
unknowns, including how much personal data
social media will collect, store and share
2010s… Geolocation and increased awareness

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 7

 Why do Data Scientists need to understand Data
Ethics?
• Data Scientists often deal with big sets of data that are driven by
people, so it is their duty to keep private data secured and use it
responsibly.
• To better incorporate human values like justice and equity in data-driven
technologies, we need to also understand the underlying human and social
structures

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 8

 Categories of Ethical issues
• Privacy issues involve collecting, storing, and disseminating information about
individuals
• Accuracy issues involve the authenticity, fidelity, and accuracy of the information
that is collected and processed
• Property issues involve the ownership and value of information
• Accessibility issues revolve around who should have access to information and
whether they should have to pay for this access

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 9

 Cyberethics
• Cyberethics → the study of moral, legal, and social issues involving
cybertechnology
• Cybertechnology → a wide range of computing and communications devices
from standalone computers, to "connected" or networked computing and
communications technologies, to the Internet itself.
• Cybertechnologies include:
• digital electronic devices;
• networked computers (including servers, desktops, laptops, etc.);
• stand-alone computers.

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 10

 Cyberethics
• Computer ethics → the study of ethical
issues limited either to computing
machines or computing professionals. Computer
Ethics
• Internet ethics → limited only to ethical
issues affecting (only) networked Information Internet
Ethics Ethics
computers and devices
• Information ethics → the study of
ethical issues limited to the creation, Cyberethics
generation, and the use of information

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 11

 Data privacy
• Data privacy (information privacy) → the aspect of
information technology (IT) that deals with the
ability an organization or individual has to
determine what data in a computer system can be
shared with third parties
• Data privacy → responsibly collecting, using and
storing data about people, in line with the
expectations of those people, your customers,
regulations and laws

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 12

 Data privacy
• Privacy concerns now affect many aspects of our
day-to-day lives – from commerce to healthcare to
work. So, we have categories such as:
• consumer privacy
• medical/healthcare privacy
• employee/workplace privacy

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 13

 Cybertechnology-related Techniques that Threaten
Privacy
• Data-gathering techniques used to collect and record personal information, often
without the knowledge and consent of users
• Data-exchanging techniques used to transfer and exchange personal data across
and between computer databases, typically without the knowledge and consent
of users
• Data-mining techniques used to search for patterns implicit in large databases in
order to generate consumer profiles based on behavioral patterns discovered in
certain groups

© Ibrahim Abu alhaol, Bushra Alhijawi, Ahmad Alzghoul 14

Any Question
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