Digital Ethics

A growing industry wants to scrutinize the algorithms that govern our lives—but it needs teeth

This paper is the first in a series of case studies that investigate how companies have begun to incorporate ethical thinking into the development of technology. It focuses on Microsoft Corporation and will be followed by papers describing efforts in other companies.

Secure cloud storage firm pCloud looked at the new Apple privacy labels featured in the App Store, analyzing ‘Date used to Track You’, ‘Third Party Advertising’, and ‘Developer’s Advertising or Marketing’.

Clubhouse says that notifications are an important part of its service. Some users say the app sends far too many.

Facial assessment tools rely on exploiting some of our deepest vulnerabilities all in the name of letting us buy our way to beauty.

Reflections on the transformative potential of refusal as a method in the design of technology

Coauthors argue that failure to consider ethical concerns associated with obstacles to data sharing in Africa could cause irreparable harm.

Students, professors, and education experts worry that that’s pushing Black students in particular out of math and science

The ACM Conference for Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT) decided to pause its sponsorship relationship with Google.

Massachusetts is one of the first states to put legislative guardrails around the use of facial recognition technology in criminal investigations.

Update as of Feb 17, 2021: This blogpost has been updated to add information about reports of litigation from FacebookFacebook has recently launched a campaign touting itself as the protector of

Many of the most successful and widely used machine-learning models are trained with the help of thousands of low-paid gig workers. Millions of people around the world earn money on platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk, which allow companies and researchers to outsource small tasks to online crowdworkers. According to one estimate, more than a million people…

It’s not really a Star Wars story unless there’s a lovable or memorable droid stealing the spotlight. But, when you really stop and think about it, there’s a...

When it's railroading time, you get railroads. When the railroads turn into the personal satrapies of rail-barons, you get trustbusters.A couple decades ago, it was online service time. We had the users, the telcoms systems, the computers, the modems, so we got platforms.1/— Cory Doctorow #BLM (@doctorow) February 20, 2021

Lawsuit cites product executive’s qualms over figures provided to advertisers

Mark Zuckerberg has outsourced crucial decisions about free speech to a new body called the Oversight Board. In collaboration with Radiolab, we look at how and why it came to be.

Can you report on surveillance tools without using surveillance tools?

The automated intelligence systems of Instagram and Facebook have repeatedly denied ads placed by small businesses that make stylish clothing for people with disabilities.

In business, “purpose” is the new black. It has become very fashionable for consultants and business professors to encourage companies to ask “why” they are in business. What is their…

Digital design increasingly exploits users.

Disability is not a bad word.

“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do”, these are the words of Potter Stewart, an American Lawyer and Judge. It is 100% true and makes more sense today as we are surrounded by technology and connected virtually with everything and everyone on the…

Tech creators and journalists ignore the insights and experiences of Black women—and fail to see the harm of their "innovations."

The company’s $62 million FTC settlement shows ‘corporate crime pays’

The increasingly prominent — and inescapable — role of digital technologies during the coronavirus pandemic has been accompanied by concerning trends in privacy and digital ethics. But more robust protection of our rights in the digital realm is possible in the future.

Five artists and scientists are tracking police helicopter surveillance's effects on Los Angeles's residents