RESPONSIBLE DATA Responsible data is: The duty to ensure people’s rights to consent, privacy, security and ownership around the information processes of collection, analysis, storage, presentation and reuse of data, while respecting the values of transparency and openness. Responsible Data Forum, working definition, September 2014 To stay up to date on responsible data issues, see https://responsibledata.io and sign up to the mailing list at https://engn.it/rdmailinglist Being thoughtful and proactive about how you ›› Data minimisation work with digital data is essential to ensure In the interests of privacy and lowering risk, the safety and well-being of people you work always attempt to collect the minimum amount with. The umbrella of ethical issues that might of data necessary for your specific purpose. arise can be talked about as responsible data challenges. There is no set policy that will work for all situations, but we encourage you to think of the following issues within your context: ›› Informed consent Especially within the context of human rights violations, getting informed consent can mean much more than you first think. Make sure that people you’re getting consent from are giving it voluntarily, that they fully understand what they are consenting to, and that they’re in a position to make these kinds of decisions. ›› Personal data Whenever possible, if you have names, dates of birth or other personally identifiable information, try to de-identify it or delete what you don’t need. ›› Sensitive data Be conscious of where sensitive data on race, ethnicity or sexual orientation is stored, whether on your own servers or in a foreign country (eg. by using a Google service) in case it could expose individuals to risk. ›› Implicit bias Data gathered from other sources may have hidden biases. Think carefully about the human decisions that were made during analysis. 63