Taylor Linnet
Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT), Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2016 Dec 28;374(2083). doi: 10.1098/rsta.2016.0126.
International development and humanitarian organizations are increasingly calling for digital data to be treated as a public good because of its value in supplementing scarce national statistics and informing interventions, including in emergencies. In response to this claim, a 'responsible data' movement has evolved to discuss guidelines and frameworks that will establish ethical principles for data sharing. However, this movement is not gaining traction with those who hold the highest-value data, particularly mobile network operators who are proving reluctant to make data collected in low- and middle-income countries accessible through intermediaries. This paper evaluates how the argument for 'data as a public good' fits with the corporate reality of big data, exploring existing models for data sharing. I draw on the idea of corporate data as an ecosystem involving often conflicting rights, duties and claims, in comparison to the utilitarian claim that data's humanitarian value makes it imperative to share them. I assess the power dynamics implied by the idea of data as a public good, and how differing incentives lead actors to adopt particular ethical positions with regard to the use of data.This article is part of the themed issue 'The ethical impact of data science'.
国际发展组织和人道主义组织越来越多地呼吁将数字数据视为公共物品，因为其在补充稀缺的国家统计数据以及为包括紧急情况在内的干预措施提供信息方面具有价值。针对这一主张，一场“负责任数据”运动应运而生，旨在讨论为数据共享确立伦理原则的指导方针和框架。然而，这场运动并未在拥有最高价值数据的群体中获得影响力，尤其是移动网络运营商，事实证明他们不愿通过中介机构让在低收入和中等收入国家收集的数据得以共享。本文评估了“数据作为公共物品”这一论点如何与大数据的企业现实相契合，探讨了现有的数据共享模式。与认为数据的人道主义价值使其必须共享的功利主义主张相比，我借鉴了将企业数据视为一个涉及往往相互冲突的权利、义务和主张的生态系统的观点。我评估了数据作为公共物品这一观点所隐含的权力动态，以及不同的激励因素如何促使行为体在数据使用方面采取特定的伦理立场。本文是主题为“数据科学的伦理影响”的特刊的一部分。
