Data with a Conscience
Learn how to handle data responsibly by understanding privacy, security, and bias, emphasizing fairness and ethical practices to ensure our analysis leads to positive outcomes.
In our previous lessons, we’ve seen how data is everywhere and how data analysts use focused questions to turn information into insights. Now, as we continue our journey to become data analysts, it’s crucial to understand a critical aspect of working with data: doing it responsibly and ethically. Just like any powerful tool, data can be used for good or for harm.
In this lesson, we will explore what it means to handle data with conscience, focusing on privacy, fairness, and the right approach to our work.
The trust factors
Imagine we’re entrusted with something very valuable. How would we protect it? That’s similar to how we must treat data, especially personal data. It involves two key concepts: privacy and security.
Data privacy
Data privacy is all about respecting an individual’s right to control their personal information. It means deciding who can see, collect, store, and use our data. Think of it like a personal diary, we choose who can read it, if anyone at all. If someone reads it without our permission, our privacy has been invaded.
When we, as data analysts, work with data that can identify people (like names, addresses, email IDs, health records, or financial details), we must always remember that this information belongs to individuals. We need to handle it with the utmost care, ensuring we only use it for the purposes for which it was collected, and with the necessary permissions. ...