Embed, Engage, Explain – a guide to approaching data ethics

When it comes to data ethics, the advice from every business we spoke to is to use the mantra “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

At its core, data ethics is about trust. Whilst data protection laws ensure compliance obligations are met by businesses, data ethics moves the conversation beyond what you can legally do, to what you should do. Handling your data ethically is an opportunity for businesses to demonstrate leadership, differentiate themselves from competitors, enhance brand reputation, and strengthen relationships with customers, clients, and data subjects.

But seizing these opportunities is not always straightforward, especially when moving beyond the framework laid out in the law. Businesses need to first understand the principles of data ethics – fairness, transparency and accountability – and then translate these concepts into practical actions that ensure an ethical approach to using data.

This resource offers a structure to help your business understand the principles of data protection in the context of ethics, providing questions you can ask your business to test the ethics of your approach.  

Embed

Data ethics needs to be at the core of any strategic or planning conversations – and embedded into the day-to-day business operations. Once you have established what your business is trying to achieve, you can look at the best ways of going about it.

The first principle of data ethics is fairness. This means balancing the interests of your business with the rights and expectations of the data subjects, even if you can lawfully use data in the way proposed.

It is important to consider fairness before taking on any new data processing activity. This includes asking the right questions to sense-check your approach to using data ethically. Whilst not exhaustive, the questions below are a starter for enabling your business to embed the principles of fairness into your data processing activities.

Engage

The second principle of data ethics is transparency. When it comes to data, transparency is near impossible without engagement. Good engagement means taking the time to consult with others to test whether your approach is the most ethical way of achieving your goals – this could include colleagues, external business partners, and similar organisations. And engagement could include consulting with your data subjects on how you intend to use their data. Use simple language and be clear and consistent with your employees, clients, customers and data subjects. This will help to demonstrate your business’s commitment to transparency and may even lead to a more ethical use of data.

Explain

Once you have embedded fairness and engaged with your data subjects for transparency, the next step is to explain what your data subjects can expect from you when it comes to their data. It is important to build in feedback mechanisms that ensure your business remains accountable to these ethical principles, and that you can continue to improve your processes as a result.

Evaluate

It is important to evaluate your approach on an ongoing basis. The assessment criteria you use to evaluate might change according to: the nature of your data processing activities, the sector you operate in, the sensitivity of the data you handle, sector-specific regulations you are subject to etc.

Use the questions below to help get you started.

Additional resources

• CBI: AI ethics into practice: CBI practical guide
• ICO The role of Data Ethics in complying with GDPR, a summary of consultation responses
• For inspiration: UK government's Data Ethics Framework