Surveillance: The age of the internet has ushered in an unprecedented age of connectedness, in which information is the lifeline of every communication, business, and decision-making. Such ubiquity of information has also come with some social and ethical issues that need to be seriously considered. The most significant question is how we can safely manoeuvre this new digital terrain without compromising our right to privacy and our basic rights. Everything we do online, from the simple use of ‘likes’ on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to the most complex financial transactions, leaves a digital trail. That trail gathered and analysed, provides businesses and governments with unparalleled insight into our lives, habits and preferences. The power to build accurate profiles leads to fundamental unease about being watched and monitored.
The Big Data privacy paradox lies in the tension between the benefits of data gathering and analysis, and the imperils to personal liberty. Data can be leveraged to customise services, boost efficiency, and create innovation. On the one hand, overly gathered data could lead to constant surveillance, bias, and manipulation through algorithms.
Artificial intelligence and ethical challenges
Artificial Intelligence can transform our society, but it also presents very challenging ethical issues. Furthermore, artificial intelligence programs, driven by terabytes of data, can learn patterns and make choices without human input. However, such programs can also inherit and exaggerate present biases in training data and generate discriminatory results.
The lack of transparency in AI algorithms is also an underlying issue. Most AI algorithms are ‘black boxes’, i.e., it is hard to see how they make decisions. This complicates ensuring accountability and fairness. Institutions and law must play a leading role in safeguarding privacy in the digital sphere. Regulations like the GDPR and CCPA are good first steps towards establishing data rights and responsibilities. However, continuous efforts are required to develop laws in accordance with changing technology at a quicker rate. International cooperation is required to manage global privacy concerns. As technology companies are global, it is necessary to address the problem collectively so that the same degree of privacy is maintained everywhere. Governments also need to invest in online learning and privacy culture.
Towards human-centred data ethics
A people-centred data ethic must be based on fundamentals such as transparency, informed consent, people control of data and accountability. Transparency requires companies and institutions to clearly state how they gather, utilize and share data. Informed consent requires individuals to have a choice of how their data are used. Control of data by the people allows individuals to gain access to, modify and delete their data. Accountability means holding companies and institutions responsible for their data behaviour. In addition to principles, concrete practices must be designed to promote sound data ethics. This includes building privacy-friendly AI systems, conducting privacy impact assessments and implementing audit and control mechanisms.
The function of civil society and the Individual
People and civil society need to collaborate in advocating for responsible data ethics. Civil society movements can monitor how institutions and corporations behave, make their actions popular among the public, and campaign for policy reform. People can protect privacy by secure practices on the Internet, learning about their rights and demanding companies and institutions disclose more about how they function.
Privacy and data ethics are not adjunctive concerns but existential concerns that define what kind of society we must be. We need to accelerate action to ensure technology is working in the best interests of human beings and not otherwise. This demands action from businesses, civil society, governments, and from each of us. Only as a united people will we design a digital age of privacy, liberty, and security that protects those qualities.
