ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY & DIGITISATION
January 25, 2023
A friend recently went to see a doctor about a problem with their middle ear. A day later, there were ad emails on hearing aids. Another person was talking privately to an advisor about estate planning, only to be bombarded by unsolicited ads for life policies or funeral cover.
This is one of many stories about unsolicited adverts that somehow ‘mysteriously’ appear, linked to a similar or related topic a person was contemplating. The application of algorithms has many positive use cases, and allows for tailor made offerings to anticipate and suit individual customer needs. However, within the context of data privacy and protection, the ethics around the use of data fed into algorithms needs closer scrutiny.
For businesses using algorithmic models that consume private and personal data for current and prospective customers, there is an ethical and legal responsibility to understand the source of data ingested, and whether there is informed customer consent, legal or contractual justification for the utilisation and processing of such data.
It is said that for 21st century business models, data is the new currency. Responsible businesses embrace this change whilst respecting entrenched personal liberties. They establish governance frameworks and effective risk management strategies around the sources of data, data relevance, data quality, design of algorithms, their development, deployment and validation of outputs. Technology and digitisation must be applied ethically to support human and enterprise advancement and not in a way that violates privacy and the right to personal integrity.