Introduction

This chapter stresses the importance of ‘making sure you think before you do’. Data is dangerous, it is combustible and should be handled with caution. The theory of unintended consequences is also explored.

Opportunities and ethics

There's a common saying in the UK along the lines of ‘just because you can doesn't mean you should’, usually said to someone who is using their money, skills or power in a way that isn't morally the best. Pulling our company's data together, governing it and making it trustworthy and then capitalising on it for the good of our organisation could give us a tremendous amount of power – so how do we intend to use it? Irrespective of how ethical our intentions are, what about the unintended consequences?

Advances in data and how we use it can and have provided us with huge opportunities to improve our public and private lives. This, coupled with the gradual reduction in human oversight and the growing awareness among the public about the use of data in their everyday lives means these opportunities come at a price: the increasingly significant ethical challenges we face in this area. It's important to find the balance between allowing and even encouraging innovation and facing some really regrettable consequences. We need to be able to build on data, share and collaborate, but to do so in an ethical and sustainable fashion.

Regulation and legislation has also become much more aware of the consequences of the misuse of data; and legal measures around data protection, intellectual property, data storage, anti-discrimination and confidential information all strive to tackle areas where data meets ethical concerns.

A definition of data ethics was formulated by Luciano Floridi and Maricrosaria Toddeo for the Royal Society in late 2016: