Ethics in Big Data

Rethinking Ethics in a Data-Driven World

As governments, corporations, and civil society organizations generate massive volumes of raw data, they face growing technical, analytical, and ethical challenges. Addressing these challenges requires more than innovation—it demands inclusive public consultation and ethical foresight.

Georgetown is helping lead that charge. In partnership with experts across technical, computational, and social domains, we are designing frameworks for ethical data stewardship. Our initiative emphasizes collaborative engagement to shape how Big Data is collected, archived, and used—ensuring that technological progress aligns with public values.

This effort helped inspire the creation of the Massive Data Institute at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy—a hub for advancing data-informed research and policymaking in the nation’s capital.

Collaborative Team

• Isabel Bradburn, Virginia Tech
  
• Jeff Collmann, Georgetown University
  
• Kevin FitzGerald, Georgetown University
  
• James Giordano, Georgetown University
  
• Sorin Matei, Purdue University
  
• Douglas Richardson, Association of American Geographers
  
• Andrew Russell, Stevens Institute of Technology
  
• Michael Steinmann, Stevens Institute of Technology
  
• Rochelle Tractenberg, Georgetown University

Project Outcomes

Conference on Privacy in the Infosphere
Held April 16–17, 2015 at Georgetown University, this NSF-sponsored event brought together thought leaders to develop ethical guidelines for managing Big Data in research.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. SMA-1338507. The findings and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.