A calculator that wants your photos
You download a free calculator app. It does sums. Then it asks to see your photos, your contacts and where you are.
A calculator needs none of these. So why does it ask? Somebody wants your data. Is that fair? And is data always worth having? Today you learn how to decide.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ethics | Ideas about what is right and what is wrong. | Is it fair to sell a person's data? |
| Personal data | Facts that can identify a living person. | Name, address, photo, phone number |
| Consent | A person says yes freely, and they know what they say yes to. | Ticking a clear box |
| Bias | Data that treats some groups unfairly or leaves them out. | A survey that only asks boys |
| Quantity | How much data you have. | 500 answers |
| Timeframe | The time the data covers, and how old it is. | Sales from the last 12 months |
| Source | Where the data came from, and who made it. | A college survey |
| Veracity | How true and correct the data is. | Ages that are real, not made up |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Quick check: fair or not?
Have a go
Quick check: fair or not?
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Fair use of data
Good practice has simple rules.
Collect only what you need. Tell people why you want it. Ask for consent. Keep the data safe. Do not keep it for ever. Let people see their data and ask for it to be removed.
Fair also means not biased
Ethics is not only about privacy. Data can also be unfair.
A survey asks only 20 students at the sports club what they eat. Then it says students love meat. That data has bias. It left out students who do not play sport. A decision made from biased data can hurt people.
Is the data worth having?
Ethical data can still be poor data. Before you trust it, ask four questions.
How much do I have? How old is it? Where did it come from? Is it true? These are quantity, timeframe, source and veracity.
The four value measures
| Measure | Question to ask | Good sign | Bad sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantity | How much data is there? | 2,000 answers | 3 answers |
| Timeframe | How old is it? What time does it cover? | This year | Ten years ago |
| Source | Who made it? | The college itself | A stranger on a website |
| Veracity | Is it true and correct? | Checked and matched with a second source | Many empty or impossible values |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.