This project closed in the summer of 2016. This site is no longer being actively managed. Anyone with questions can email [email protected].
Recent Output & Updates
Improving Services—At What Cost? Examining the Ethics of Twitter Research at the Montana State University Library
Where are Human Subjects in Big Data Research? The Emerging Ethics Divide
Jacob Metcalf and Kate Crawford illustrate how proposed changes to the regulations governing human-subjects research protections do not address certain harms caused by big data research that uses public datasets, and discuss what ethical protections "data subjects" might require. Published in Big Data and Society, Spring 2016.
Perspectives on Big Data, Ethics, and Society
The Council for Big Data, Ethics, and Society publishes a comprehensive white paper consolidating conversations and ideas from two years of meetings and discussions.
BDES Council Poster
Prepared for the NSF BIGDATA PI Meeting, April 20-21, in Washington, DC; this poster summarizes the Council’s outputs, policy recommendations, suggested pedagogical interventions, and strategies for cross-disciplinary networking.
Case Study: “It Was A Matter of Life and Death”: A YouTube Engineer’s Decision to Alter Data in the ‘It Gets Better Project’
In this case study, a YouTube engineer contemplates whether to subvert engineering best practices to bypass storage capacity limits on videos created for the It Gets Better Project, which aims to prevent self-harm by LGBTQ youth.
Case Study: The Ethics of Using Hacked Data: Patreon’s Data Hack and Academic Data Standards
Should researchers utilize hacked datasets that have been released in public forums? This case study discusses the ethical arguments for and against utilizing hacked crowdfunding data for academic research.
Letter on Proposed Changes to the Common Rule
This letter provides feedback to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding proposed changes to the regulation of human subjects research outlined in the Common Rule.
Network Expansion Announcement
The Council for Big Data, Ethics, and Society would like you to help us build a community of researchers and thinkers with a scholarly interest in the social, technical, legal, and ethical issues raised by the “big data” phenomenon. The BDES Network will facilitate information sharing, discussion, and community building among academics, practitioners, researchers, and others who seek to raise important questions, share opportunities, and ask for help navigating complex data ethics issues. The network is being formed in connection with the NSF-supported Council for Big Data, Ethics, and Society, but will also have a life of its own. Participants can expect to be invited to participate in grants, collaborations, grants, and opportunities to connect with one another.
Call for Case Studies
As part of its network expansion, the Council for Big Data, Ethics, and Society is commissioning original case studies.
The Council is seeking researchers, practitioners, and educators to write case studies based on real-world examples that examine complex issues of data ethics. A case study should describe a situation in which an ethical conundrum arose, and how responding to that situation introduced conflicting ethical duties, responsibilities, or principles. Situations used for case studies may involve data collection, publishing, aggregation, or analytics and illustrate topics such as privacy, de/re-identification, accuracy and quality control, cultural representation, oversight and accountability, or social outcomes of research. Examples from industry, government, and academia are welcome.
Completed case studies will become part of a collection of pedagogical resources for instructors covering data ethics in various fields, and will be used to generate discussion through live and/or online discussion forums of part of ongoing work by the Council. The case studies may be distributed via the Council, Data & Society, and the National Online Ethics Center (hosted by the National Academies of Engineering). Authors are also welcome to submit their case studies for publication.