by Angela Guess

Rebecca Bazeley recently wrote in PHG Foundation, “The UK Government is to set up a Council of Data Science Ethics. The development comes in response to recommendations from the Science and Technology Committee’s report The big data dilemma published earlier this year. The Council of Data Science Ethics will be established within the Alan Turing Institute as a means of ‘addressing the growing legal and ethical challenges associated with balancing privacy, anonymisation, security and public benefit.’ In its response, published yesterday, the Government stated the new body would clarify and provide ‘guidance on ethical, legal and technical issues (allowing) data science to develop more quickly and appropriately, giving the UK an opportunity to gain a global advantage’.”

Bazeley goes on, “Nicola Blackwood MP, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, said: ‘Big Data has enormous potential to improve public services and business productivity, but there are also justified privacy concerns when personal data is used in new applications, services and research. Getting the balance between the benefits and the risks right is vital.’ The Cabinet Office is also developing an ethical framework for government data science, details of which will be published in the next few months. The original report from the Science and Technology Committee makes 14 recommendations in relation to the challenges presented by big data, including the implications of new EU regulation and past failures in managing patient data.”

Photo credit: Flickr