The Power of Data

Prompt:

In the TED Talk linked in this lesson, Horowitz asked what we should do about the power we have, thanks to the data we can access. Specifically, he asked: So, what should we be doing with that guy's data? Should we be collecting it, gathering it, so we can make his online experience better? So we can make money? So we can protect ourselves if he was up to no good? Or should we respect his privacy, protect his dignity, and leave him alone? Which one is it? How should we figure it out?

In a discussion post, describe how you would answer these questions. What framework discussed in this lesson guided your decision-making? Refer back to the bottom of p. 73 and the top of p. 74 in Whetten and Cameron (2016). Which of the strategies for decision-making did you use? Which framework does it align with? Why?

Response:

During an era when the stigma of shame seems to have diminished in severity, it is reasonable to suggest that some decision-making strategies, such as...

Indeed, growing numbers of public...…that they would be comfortable having done to themselves. This ethical guideline discourages excessive, non-consensual surveillance and data mining that infringes on privacy and autonomy. Instead, the use of the golden rule as a moral framework serves to promote transparent data policies, reasonable data security, and ethical usage that respects human dignity. Unfortunately, it is also reasonable to suggest that the golden rule is only the optimal decision-making strategy when everyone else plays by the same rules, but this harsh reality should not discourage practitioners from developing and applying this moral framework to their decision making since there will always be…