Big Data ethics

Type Journal Article Author Andrej Zwitter URL http://bds.sagepub.com/content/1/2/2053951714559253 Rights © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page(http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). Volume 1 Issue 2 Pages 2053951714559253 Publication Big Data & Society ISSN 2053-9517 Date 2014/07/01 DOI 10.1177/2053951714559253 Accessed 2015-10-19 19:21:51 Library Catalog bds.sagepub.com Language en Abstract The speed of development in Big Data and associated phenomena, such as social media, has surpassed the capacity of the average consumer to understand his or her actions and their knock-on effects. We are moving towards changes in how ethics has to be perceived: away from individual decisions with specific and knowable outcomes, towards actions by many unaware that they may have taken actions with unintended consequences for anyone. Responses will require a rethinking of ethical choices, the lack thereof and how this will guide scientists, governments, and corporate agencies in handling Big Data. This essay elaborates on the ways Big Data impacts on ethical conceptions.