With data collection comes responsibility
In cities, local authorities are often responsible for systems that generate and could benefit from the analysis of data, to maximise their value and use to citizens and the authority itself. However, this is not a guaranteed state of affairs. In a world where privately owned platforms are often the means for an individual to interact with digital services, local authorities are faced with a technical environment that may not support their needs to deliver both critical and supplementary urban services. Equally, the incentives of private firms (large and small) may not align with that of a local authority – with tensions between revenue models and public good, commercialising datasets versus open data, and so on – presenting a challenge as to how the data of citizens is protected, and data collected about a territory can be effectively used and acted upon by the local authority.
Who owns data continues to be a matter of debate for institutions. One emerging ownership model is open data. Data are considered to be “open” if anyone can freely access, use, re-use and redistribute them, for any purpose, without restrictions. This transparent model has been applied in the EU through initiatives such as the Payments Service Directive 2 PSD2.42
As soon as we collect, share and use data, we open ourselves to the risk of unintended negative externalities for society, directly or indirectly. We call the evaluation of these practices data ethics.43 For example, an automated data model might make decisions about whether someone is eligible for a bank loan. And decisions about what data to collect – and what to exclude – might affect groups in a society. It also raises questions about how citizens may provide consent to have data gathered and stored. Regulation has emerged from the EU in the form of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to address some of these questions, but municipalities need the capacity to address these questions in their own context. So the issues include developing an ethics charter for the local authority, training city technicians and elected officials, citizen participation, setting up an autonomous and independent monitoring body, and applying good international practices, amongst others.
42. Wikipedia. “Payment Services Directive”. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Services_Directive
43. Open Data Institute. What is the Data Ethics Canvas?. Retrieved from: https://theodi.org/article/data-ethics-canvas/
