{"id":3553,"date":"2017-09-25T13:43:09","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T17:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/company\/press\/bloomberg-brighthive-data-democracy-launch-initiative-develop-data-science-code-ethics\/"},"modified":"2017-09-25T13:43:09","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T17:43:09","slug":"bloomberg-brighthive-data-democracy-launch-initiative-develop-data-science-code-ethics","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/company\/press\/bloomberg-brighthive-data-democracy-launch-initiative-develop-data-science-code-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloomberg, BrightHive and Data for Democracy Launch Initiative to Develop Data Science Code of Ethics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cCommunity Principles on Ethical Data Sharing\u201d to provide guidelines for ethical behavior<\/em><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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New York —\u00a0At Bloomberg\u2019s 2017 Data for Good Exchange<\/a>, the fourth annual conference exploring how data science can help solve problems for social good, a partnership was announced between Bloomberg, BrightHive and Data for Democracy to develop a code of ethics for data scientists from the ground up. Called the \u201cCommunity Principles on Ethical Data Sharing (CPEDS),\u201d this code of ethics will provide a set of guidelines about responsible data sharing and collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen data scientists are entrusted with the most private and valuable data out there, the data science community must work to deserve the trust of those whose data we are holding,\u201d said Gideon Mann, Bloomberg\u2019s head of data science.<\/p>\n

Over the next six to nine months, the goal of the partnership is to define values and priorities for overall ethical behavior by data scientists. By developing a code of conduct around data sharing, data scientists can be thoughtful, responsible, and ethical agents of change in their organizations. Through social media and community discussions, more than 2,000 data scientists have already weighed in on what the challenges are with sharing data and what must be overcome for people and companies to feel comfortable sharing data with a trusted community of data scientists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe set out to explore what it could look like if data scientists had a code of ethics, similar to physicians\u2019 Hippocratic Oath,\u201d said Natalie Evans Harris, \u200eCOO and Vice President of Ecosystem Development at BrightHive, and a former senior policy advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer under President Barack Obama. \u201cThe CPEDS won\u2019t propose comprehensive solutions for thorny questions like how to minimize algorithmic bias. Instead, it will aim to define priorities for overall ethical behavior related to data sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guidelines will be general enough to be relevant to a data scientist\u2019s approach to any work or projects, while also being specific enough to support data scientists when they need to make difficult ethical decisions about their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn other words,\u201d said Lilian Huang, Data Ethics Lead at Data for Democracy, \u201cthey are meant to guide a data scientist in being a thoughtful, responsible, and ethical agent, who can then work together productively with other data scientists to actually solve problems such as how to minimize algorithmic bias or maintain data privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The preliminary work to date has been focused on framing a larger discussion and bringing together the community to move the conversation forward. This includes identifying recurring themes that members of the data science community consider important and arranging them in a systematic framework to address the following five areas of concern:<\/p>\n