Digital Ethics

I've often said that every two-dimensional map is a lie; a perfect map would be able to show a city in three dimensions. (Or four, to show how they've changed over time.) Height tells you so much; the steepness of stre

Amygdala hijack refers to the fight-or-flight response that takes place when you are faced with a perceived threat.

This is a crib of a talk that Data & Society Founder and President danah boyd gave at the Online News Association conference in Austin…

Exclusive: Use of algorithms to identify families for attention raises stereotyping and privacy fears

This is quietly a major milestone in tech culture. Linus Torvalds, the leader behind Linux, git, and much of open source culture, reflects on how he’s been hostile to community members. I hope he follows through — that would be his biggest commit ever. https://t.co/1DzeWVRvLe pic.twitter.com/lY5AMxNuPd— Anil Dash 🥭 (@anildash) September 16, 2018

New research shows that curiosity is vital to an organization’s performance—as are the particular ways in which people are curious and the experiences they are exposed to. This package examines how leaders can nurture curiosity throughout their organizations and ensure that it translates to success.

In 1967, the newly formed National Organization for Women staged a weeklong protest of The New York Times and other newspapers. Their demonstration targeted the long-standing practice of printing classified listings in two separate columns: “Help wanted: Male” and “Help wanted: Female,” which of course resulted in the exclusion of women from high-paying jobs and industries. As a result of NOW’s advocacy campaign, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency charged with enforcing Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibiting race and sex discrimination in employment,...

What happened when Boston Public Schools tried for equity with an algorithm.

Doing poor stats and presenting misleading results is not just sloppy, it's unethical. h/t @CarlMoons @deeksj pic.twitter.com/8vzu2zku2g— Cecile Janssens (@cecilejanssens) September 21, 2018

Rarely has society’s tendency to sympathize with powerful men been so thoroughly on display.

If we want to overcome the systemic issues behind today’s problems, then we need to change the thinking that led to them to begin with.

History is just one long timeline of fails.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a new technology that requires regulation. It is a powerful force that is reshaping daily practices, personal and professional interactions, and environments. For the well-being of humanity it is crucial that this power is used as a force of good. Ethics plays a key role in this process by ensuring that regulations of AI harness its potential while mitigating its risks. AI may be defined in many ways. Get its definition wrong, and any assessment of the ethical challenges of AI becomes science fiction at best or an irresponsible distraction at worst, ...

A progressive Canadian university recently approached me for input on a proposed certificate program in ethics education. I was glad to provide my two-cents worth. This is an area of increasing concern, even alarm, in business and public life. The scandals that have rocked Wall Street, the Church,

As part of Disability Awareness Month, we speak to one of the Fathers of the Internet about his own disability, abandoning the cello for computers and how a squealing hearing aid can spoil a romantic moment.

The problem of theorizing privacy moves on two levels, the first consisting of an inadequate conceptual vocabulary and the second consisting of an inadequate in

Amazon.com Inc's machine-learning specialists uncovered a big problem: their new recruiting engine did not like women.

Advances in technology pose difficult moral questions for humanity — and it is not clear who is responsible for providing answers

Harassment on the platform can be uniquely cruel, and for many it feels like there’s no escape.

People who feel powerful are quicker to change jobs or point out inequity directed at them than are people with less power, a study finds. This may help explain how hierarchies are maintained.

In a thought-provoking new paper, three Yale scientists argue it’s not inequality in life that really bothers us, but unfairness

Amazon is right to reject its sexist AI recruitment system. It was built on a false premise

Once you’ve reached the top, do you have to care what anyone thinks?

The nonprofit’s founder and chairwoman explains her latest initiative: a $3.5M competition in partnership with the Omidyar Network to explore new ways to teach ethics to computer science students.

Large-scale misconduct starts small, so prevention should focus on how employees make decisions.