scholarly journals Big Data, Method and the Ethics of Location: A Case Study of a Hookup App for Men Who Have Sex with Men

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630511876829
Author(s):  
Ben Light ◽  
Peta Mitchell ◽  
Patrik Wikström
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Sensitive Data ◽  
Public Sex ◽  
Sexual Cultures ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Data Context ◽  
Public Toilets

With the rise of geo-social media, location is emerging as a particularly sensitive data point for big data and digital media research. To explore this area, we reflect on our ethics for a study in which we analyze data generated via an app that facilitates public sex among men who have sex with men. The ethical sensitivities around location are further heightened in the context of research into such digital sexual cultures. Public sexual cultures involving men who have sex with men operate both in spaces “meant” for public sex (e.g., gay saunas and dark rooms) and spaces “not meant” for public sex (e.g., shopping centers and public toilets). The app in question facilitates this activity. We developed a web scraper that carefully collected selected data from the app and that data were then analyzed to help identify ethical issues. We used a mixture of content analysis using Python scripts, geovisualisation software and manual qualitative coding techniques. Our findings, which are methodological rather than theoretical in nature, center on the ethics associated with generating, processing, presenting, archiving and deleting big data in a context where harassment, imprisonment, physical harm and even death occur. We find a tension in normal standards of ethical conduct where humans are involved in research. We found that location came to the fore as a key—though not the only—actor requiring attention when considering ethics in a big data context.

Sports Journalism: Self-Censorship, Ethics and Lived Experience in the Digital Era.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tom Bradshaw
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Professional Experience ◽  
Homogeneous Sample ◽  
Sports Journalism ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Qualitative Approaches

This thesis examines the major ethical issues experienced by UK sports journalists in the course of their practice in the modern digital media landscape, with a particular focus on selfcensorship. In tandem, it captures the lived professional experience of sports journalists in the digital era. My own professional experience is considered alongside the experiences of interviewees and diary-keepers. Initially, an exploratory case study of the work of investigative journalist David Walsh is used to highlight key ethical issues affecting sports journalism. A Kantian deontological theoretical perspective is articulated and developed. Qualitative approaches, specifically Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and autoethnography, are then used to provide an original analysis of the research objectives, enhanced by philosophical analysis. Ten in-depth, semi-structured interviews are conducted with a homogeneous sample of UK sports journalists, while diaries kept by three different journalists provide another seam of data. Reflective logs of my own work as a sports journalist provide the basis for autoethnographic data. The main log runs for two-and-half years (2016- 19) with a separate additional log covering the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. The semistructured interviews, diaries, autoethnography and case study are synthesized. The thesis explores how social media has introduced a host of ethical issues for sports journalists, not least the handling of abuse directed at them. Social media emerges as a double-edged sword. One of its most positive functions is to raise the standard of some journalists’ output due to the greater scrutiny that reporters feel they are under in the digital era, but at its worst it can be a platform for grotesque distortion and for corrupting sports journalists’ decision-making processes. Self-censorship of both facts and opinions emerges as a pervasive factor in sports journalism, a phenomenon that has been intensified by the advent of social media. Sports journalists show low engagement with codes of conduct, with the research suggesting that participants are on occasion more readily influenced by self-policing dynamics. This project captures vividly sports journalists’ personal involvement and emotional investment in their work, and reconsiders the ‘toy department’-versus-watchdog classification of sports journalists. The thesis concludes with recommendations for industry, including the introduction of formal support for sports journalists affected by online abuse.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectoral Big Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme T. Laurie
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Biomedical Data ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Ethics Framework ◽  
Full Explanation ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Discussion of uses of biomedical data often proceeds on the assumption that the data are generated and shared solely or largely within the health sector. However, this assumption must be challenged because increasingly large amounts of health and well-being data are being gathered and deployed in cross-sectoral contexts such as social media and through the internet of (medical) things and wearable devices. Cross-sectoral sharing of data thus refers to the generation, use and linkage of biomedical data beyond the health sector. This paper considers the challenges that arise from this phenomenon. If we are to benefit fully, it is important to consider which ethical values are at stake and to reflect on ways to resolve emerging ethical issues across ecosystems where values, laws and cultures might be quite distinct. In considering such issues, this paper applies the deliberative balancing approach of the Ethics Framework for Big Data in Health and Research (Xafis et al. 2019) to the domain of cross-sectoral big data. Please refer to that article for more information on how this framework is to be used, including a full explanation of the key values involved and the balancing approach used in the case study at the end.

A Framework for Evaluating Design Methodologies for Big Data Warehouses

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Di Tria ◽  
Ezio Lefons ◽  
Filippo Tangorra
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Unstructured Data ◽  
Data Warehouses ◽  
Qualitative Information ◽  
Design Specifications ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Data Context

This article describes how the evaluation of modern data warehouses considers new solutions adopted for facing the radical changes caused by the necessity of reducing the storage volume, while increasing the velocity in multidimensional design and data elaboration, even in presence of unstructured data that are useful for providing qualitative information. The aim is to set up a framework for the evaluation of the physical and methodological characteristics of a data warehouse, realized by considering the factors that affect the data warehouse's lifecycle when taking into account the Big Data issues (Volume, Velocity, Variety, Value, and Veracity). The contribution is the definition of a set of criteria for classifying Big Data Warehouses on the basis of their methodological characteristics. Based on these criteria, the authors defined a set of metrics for measuring the quality of Big Data Warehouses in reference to the design specifications. They show through a case study how the proposed metrics are able to check the eligibility of methodologies falling in different classes in the Big Data context.

Big Data Ethics in Social Media-- A Case Study of Evaluating Websites

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-31
Author(s):  
Yueming Niu ◽  
Yulin Yao
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Information Protection ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Hidden Information ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Data Ethics

This article combines qualitative and quantitative analysis to study the ethical issues of Big Data in social media, especially in evaluating websites. First, this article discusses the Big Data ethics of evaluation websites, and finds that there are some problems in the evaluation websites, such as false information, hidden information, and lack of user information protection. Second, this article uses questionnaires to investigate the awareness of users of different genders and ages on the evaluation website and their personal information protection consciousness.

scholarly journals Democracy Under Attack: Challenges of Addressing Ethical Issues of AI and Big Data for More Democratic Digital Media and Societies

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Christodoulou ◽  
Kalypso Iordanou
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Responsible Innovation ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Digital Surveillance ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Democratic Principles

The potency and potential of digital media to contribute to democracy has recently come under intense scrutiny. In the context of rising populism, extremism, digital surveillance and manipulation of data, there has been a shift towards more critical approaches to digital media including its producers and consumers. This shift, concomitant with calls for a path toward digital well-being, warrants a closer investigation into the study of the ethical issues arising from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data. The use of Big Data and AI in digital media are often incongruent with fundamental democratic principles and human rights. The dominant paradigm is one of covert exploitation, erosion of individual agency and autonomy, and a sheer lack of transparency and accountability, reminiscent of authoritarian dynamics rather than of a digital well-being with equal and active participation of informed citizens. Our paper contributes to the promising research landscape that seeks to address these ethical issues by providing an in-depth analysis of the challenges that stakeholders are faced with when attempts are made to mitigate the negative implications of Big Data and AI. Rich empirical evidence collected from six focus groups, across Europe, with key stakeholders in the area of shaping ethical dimensions of technology, provide useful insights into elucidating the multifaceted dilemmas, tensions and obstacles that stakeholders are confronted with when being tasked to address ethical issues of digital media, with a focus on AI and Big Data. Identifying, discussing and explicating these challenges is a crucial and necessary step if researchers and policymakers are to envisage and design ways and policies to overcome them. Our findings enrich the academic discourse and are useful for practitioners engaging in the pursuit of responsible innovation that protects the well-being of its users while defending the democratic foundations which are at stake.

scholarly journals LA SCIENZA DEI DATI: UNA NUOVA SFIDA MULTIDISCIPLINARE

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonietta Mira
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Sensitive Data

The present manuscript aims to delineate and deepen the new multidisciplinary challenge of Data Science. In order to make the reader aware of the revolutionary scope of this new discipline, I will review various examples of success arising from the analysis of so called “Big Data”. My analysis will not fail to underline the economic and social impact of the Big Data revolution by also referring to the ethical issues that naturally arise in the presence of sensitive data and information.

scholarly journals Precision Medicine and Big Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Owen Schaefer ◽  
E Shyong Tai ◽  
Shirley Sun
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Precision Medicine ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Harm Minimization ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
Full Explanation ◽  
Effective Diagnosis

Abstract As opposed to a ‘one size fits all’ approach, precision medicine uses relevant biological (including genetic), medical, behavioural and environmental information about a person to further personalize their healthcare. This could mean better prediction of someone’s disease risk and more effective diagnosis and treatment if they have a condition. Big data allows for far more precision and tailoring than was ever before possible by linking together diverse datasets to reveal hitherto-unknown correlations and causal pathways. But it also raises ethical issues relating to the balancing of interests, viability of anonymization, familial and group implications, as well as genetic discrimination. This article analyses these issues in light of the values of public benefit, justice, harm minimization, transparency, engagement and reflexivity and applies the deliberative balancing approach found in the Ethical Framework for Big Data in Health and Research (Xafis et al. 2019) to a case study on clinical genomic data sharing. Please refer to that article for an explanation of how this framework is to be used, including a full explanation of the key values involved and the balancing approach used in the case study at the end. Our discussion is meant to be of use to those involved in the practice as well as governance and oversight of precision medicine to address ethical concerns that arise in a coherent and systematic manner.

scholarly journals Archival strategies for contemporary collecting in a world of big data: Challenges and opportunities with curating the UK web archive

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 205395172199040
Author(s):  
Nicola Jayne Bingham ◽  
Helena Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
British Library ◽  
National Library ◽  
Trinity College Dublin ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Uk ◽  
British Culture ◽  
Web Archive

In this contribution, we will discuss the opportunities and challenges arising from memory institutions' need to redefine their archival strategies for contemporary collecting in a world of big data. We will reflect on this topic by critically examining the case study of the UK Web Archive, which is made up of the six UK Legal Deposit Libraries: the British Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales, Bodleian Libraries Oxford, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin. The UK Web Archive aims to archive, preserve and give access to the UK web space. This is achieved through an annual domain crawl, first undertaken in 2013, in addition to more frequent crawls of key websites and specially curated collections which date back as far as 2005. These collections reflect important aspects of British culture and events that shape society. This commentary will explore a number of questions including: what heritage is captured and what heritage is instead neglected by the UK Web archive? What heritage is created in the form of new data and what are its properties? What are the ethical issues that memory institutions face when developing these web archiving practices? What transformations are required to overcome such challenges and what institutional futures can we envisage?

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