Ethics and Data Analytics

It is important to note that, in general, data analytics projects using existing properly gathered employment data don’t raise too many red flags.

In terms of this course, there are no ethical issues relating to data. This is because the data is fictional and therefore, no one can be harmed by its use. However, at a broader level, there are significant concerns about the ethical use of big data in private organizations. Big data can be described as very large data sets that can explain and predict, through statistical and quantitative analysis, human behavior and interactions. In 2010, after extensive research with several large and multinational organizations, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership developed a set of guidelines to help organizations use the data available to them in an ethical fashion. Included here are the guidelines, adapted from Schwartz (2010), that are particularly relevant in the context of HR analytics. Schwartz argues that, in its use of data analytics, an organization should do the following things (adapted from pp. 2–3):

• Comply with legal requirements.
• Assess, beyond legal requirements, whether its use of analytics reflects cultural and social norms about acceptable activities.
• Assess the impact of its use of analytics on the trust in the company held by a wide range of stakeholders, including consumers, employees, other businesses, government, and non-governmental policymakers.
• Use analytics through accountable processes. Accountability begins with acknowledging that analytics can have positive and negative effects on individuals.
• Develop internal policies that focus on information management and training of personnel.
• Implement appropriate safeguards to protect the security of the information used in analytics. Data security should be reasonable when measured against the kind of information that is collected and processed, as well as the decisions that are made with it.
• Assess whether its use of analytics involves sensitive areas and, if so, accompany it with reasonable safeguards proportionate to the risk.