Ethical Considerations for Research Involving (Speculative) Public Data

As the process of creating and sharing data about ourselves becomes more prevalent, researchers have access to increasingly rich data about human behavior. Framed as a fictional paper published at some point in the not-so-distant future, this design fiction draws from current inquiry and debate into the ethics of using public data for research, and speculatively extends this conversation into even more robust and more personal data that could exist when we design new technologies in the future. By looking to how the precedents of today might impact the practices of tomorrow, we can consider how we might design policies, ethical guidelines, and technologies that are forward-thinking.