SocialDataScience

DavidDreyerLassenUCPHECON

August17,2016

InGodwe trust,allothers mustbringdata

W.EdwardsDewing

BigDatainEconomics

Today:Privacy andEthics inBigData

Production andUse

Whyprivacy?

• Privacyforitsowngood– aprincipleofprivacy• Privacytopreserveinformationalrents– Consumers,firms

• Privacyandpolitics

BigDatainEconomics

Whyprivacy?

• Privacyforitsowngood– aprincipleofprivacy– Maysimplyvalueprivacyinitself– But:publicgoodsproblems

• Example:medicalresearch.Shareexistinginfoonmedicalhistory,nocosttoindividuals.Somewillnotcontribute,citingprivacyconcerns– butbenefitsofresearchaccruetoeverybody

• DK:noconsentnecessaryforregisterstudiesorre-useofdata• Similar:Privacyforsocialscienceresearch,ormonitoringinpublicplaces

BigDatainEconomics

Whyprivacy?

• Privacytopreserveinformationalrents– Consumers:willingnesstopay(WTP),characteristics,andbehavioroftenprivateinformation• Willingnesstopay:1st classvs.2nd class• Characteristics:Taste,Genetics,Personality• Behavior:e.g.drivingandinsurance,physicalactivity• Valueoftime/searchcosts• Example:Internetsteering

– Firms:IntellectualPropertyRights,strategy• Industrialespionagemajorproblem• LinkedIn-story;Firmswheredataisonlyasset

BigDatainEconomics

Whyprivacy?

• Privacyandpolitics– Authoritiesmaynotregisterpartyidentification

• Originallyforfreedomofpoliticalexpressionbutalso:majorityincitycouncilcouldpayoutcashassistance/kontanthjælpbasedon,say,unionmembership

– Thesedays:Privacyasapoliticalplatform

BigDatainEconomics

Danishlawofpersonaldata“Persondataloven”

• Laysdowntheruleson– Allelectronicuseofpersonaldata

– Datainregisters

• Ingeneral:strictrulesgoverningauthorities’andfirmsuseofdata/information

• Sensitivedatasingledout:

• Sensitive:– Politicalviews– Philosophicalviews– Sexualpreference– Ethnicity/Race– Unionmembership– Health– Serioussocialproblems

BigDatainEconomics

Processexample

• Combinesurveydataoneconomicexpectationswithadministrativedataontaxableincome

• Combinestwosetsofindividualdata

• RequirespermissionfromDanishDataAuthority

• Whataboutcomments/likesfromFacebook?

• Whataboutusernamedratingonwebsite?

• Whataboutdataonhouseprices – ordataonownersofhouses?

BigDatainEconomics

Processexample

• Combinesurveydataoneconomicexpectationswithadministrativedataontaxableincome

• Combinestwosetsofindividualdata

• RequirespermissionfromDanishDataAuthority

• Whataboutcomments/likesfromFacebook?

• Whataboutusernamedratingonwebsite?

• Whataboutdataonhouseprices – ordataonownersofhouses?

BigDatainEconomics

Example:What can we knowfromFacebook-likes?

• Quite alot• “Privatetraitsand

attributesarepredictablefromdigitalrecordsofhumanbehavior” Kosinskietal.PNAS2013.

• 58,000volunteersgaveaccesstoFacebook-likes,demographicinfo+tookpsychometrictest

• Results:Facebook-likes ->statlearning modelthatcorrectly predicts– Sexual orientation 88%– Afri-AmvsCauscasian95%– Demvs.Rep 85%

• Asgood aspersonalitytestfortraits

• Implications forprivacyandonlinebehavior?

BigDatainEconomics

Noneed forinformed consent onprocessed data

• § 5.Oplysningerskalbehandlesioverensstemmelsemedgoddatabehandlingsskik.Stk.2.Indsamlingafoplysningerskalsketiludtrykkeligtangivneogsagligeformål,ogsenerebehandlingmåikkeværeuforeneligmeddisseformål.Senerebehandlingafoplysninger,deraleneskerihistorisk,statistiskellervidenskabeligtøjemed,ansesikkeforuforeneligmeddeformål,hvortiloplysningerneerindsamlet.

BigDatainEconomics

• § 5.

Stk.2.Collectionofinformationcan happen only forlearlyspecified andfactual reasons.Subsequent processingmustnotbe indisagreementwiththereasons.Subsequentprocessingthathappensonlyforhistorical,statisticalorscientificreasonsarenotconsideredindisagreementwiththepurposeforwhichdataiscollected.

Individualdataandprivacy

• StatDenmark:Datauserscannotpresentdataattheindividuallevel

• Examples– Maxoftheincomedistribution

– Medianofincomedistribution

– Maxincomeinparish

• Well-knownexamplesofre-identification– Oftenincombinationwithauxiliarydata

– Seexxx,Science

BigDatainEconomics

Trade-offs

• Sometimes:Sacrificeaccuracyforprivacy

• Insomecases:notrade-offinanalysis,onlyinpresentation

BigDatainEconomics

Trade-offs

• Sometimes:Sacrificeaccuracyforprivacy

• Insomecases:notrade-offinanalysis,onlyinpresentation

BigDatainEconomics

HaririandLassen,2016PublicOpinion Quarterly

Trade-offs• Sometimes:Sacrifice

accuracyforprivacy• Insomecases:notrade-

offinanalysis,onlyinpresentation

• Sometime:onlyhave,say,intervaldata

• Danishfirmdata:StatDenmarkdoesnotreportfiguresforindustrieswithveryfewfirms

BigDatainEconomics

• Newapproaches:analystsdon’tseedata,butcanmakecalculationsonit– Maylimitfeel fordata

• Moregeneralproblem:howmuchinfodowegetfromdataunderconstraintof‘noidentifiability’?Activeresearchareaincomputerscience

Economicanalysisofprivacy

• Heffetz andLigett (Read):Principlesforprivacypreservingdatahandling– abitcomplicatedinplaces

• Activeresearcharea– Combinewithmechanism

design– Economictheory– Combinecomputerscience

andeconomics

BigDatainEconomics

• SeeAcquisti etal.formoreonthis(ifinterested)

• Also:behavioraleconomicsaspects+genuineuncertainty:“Evenexpost,onlyfewoftheconsequencesofprivacydecisionsareactuallyquantifiable;exante,feweryetare.”– fromAcquisti&Grossklags,2007

“WhatCanBehavioralEconomicsTeachUsAboutPrivacy?”

Fromlasttime:

BigDatainEconomics

Phone locations0500hMondaymorning ->canpredictwherepeopleatgiventimewith85%accuracy

Ethics ofBigdata

• ”Webscraping:ajournalist’s guide”+”ontheethics ofwebscraping anddatajournalism”

• Forjournalists,butinteresting forus aswell

• NeuhausandWebmoor2012:”Agileethics formassified researchandvisualization”

• Doread (notecon)!• Also (google):Zimmer(2010)”Butthedataisalready public”:ontheethics ofresearchinFacebook.

BigDatainEconomics

What isEthics?

• Asystematic approachtomoraljudgmentsbased onreason,analysis,synthesis andreflection

• Moralstandards:Impartial,takeprecedenceoverself-interest,universal

• Butnotone setofstandards

• Arestudentorresearcherethicsdifferent frompersonalethics?

BigDatainEconomics

Ethics ofBigdata

• Ethics inuniversitiesoften governed by– Institutional ReviewsBoards(IRBs)

– Personalethics orfeelings ofrightandwrong

• Thelaw:theinstitutionalembodiment ofethics

• Denmark:Only formalethics board forbio-medical research

• no IRBs ineconomics• DK-wide inpolisci• Some inpsychology• Sociology??

BigDatainEconomics

Key goal ofethical considerations

• Reduce potentialrisk ofparticipantsinresearch– Inmedicine:benefits vs.harms– Insocialscience:typically identifiability/privacy,butcouldalso be stigmaorlongtermconsequences infieldexperiments

• Isinformed consent enough?– Isconsent informed ifshrouded in80pagesoflegalclick-thru?

– Ifphotographingpeople inpublicplaces isok,isnotingwhat they say onFacebookalso ok?

BigDatainEconomics

Challenges

• But:Notunethical tofindcorrelation btw smokingandlung cancer,even ifinsurance companies use thistoincrease premiums forsmokers– What about correlation between geneticmarkersand,say,chronic diseases,increased mortality risk?

• ethicsisnotaboutpreventingstufffrombeingdone– butreasonablebalancebetweencostsandbenefits(ex:hiddencamera/mike:notokformundanethings,butmaybeokifbenefitsarehuge;randomdrugscreeningofemplyees may violate privacy,butokifjobinvolves publicsafety)

BigDatainEconomics

ethical considerations forbig data

• What about businessethics?– Example:GoogleLocation.Showwhere friends/family areinrealtime– butrequires consent

– Arepredictive locationalgorithms ethical?• Isitethical toscrape competitors’likes onFacebook?Isitillegal?– Note:ethics sometimes used asargumentstostifflecompetition

• Canyou scrape dataandresell?Orrepackage?• Does datacollection cause significant costs (timeormoney)tofirms and/orindividuals?

BigDatainEconomics

Questions forproposed projects

• Doyou respect privacy?• Cansingleindividuals be identified?

• Arethere ethical considerations– Withrespect toindividuals?– Withrespect tofirms?– Should you report your researchtotheDanishDataProtection Agency?Seehere (inDanish)forexemptionswrt personal dataandstudents’projects.

BigDatainEconomics