Written for CIPL by Paul M. Schwartz, Professor of Law, Berkley Law School, University of California, Berkeley; Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
This paper offers a contextual examination of analytics. The term “contextual” is used here in reference to an organization’s need to consider the risks that a specific application of analytics poses to privacy and the kind of responsible processes that should accompany the use of analytics generally. This white paper finds that analytics tend to be applied to four stages of a data life-cycle: (1) collection, (2) integration and analysis, (3) decisionmaking, and (4) review and revision.
The white paper further discusses how rules about the collection and processing of personal information can reflect different legal, social, and cultural values in different countries. These disparities raise considerable challenges to international companies that work in a variety of jurisdictions. The differences in background values can also raise challenges to a distributed business strategy that involves partnering with other entities on a global basis.
Finally, the paper proposes ethical standards for private organizations using this technique. These guidelines were developed through a series of interviews and discussions in a workshop with the leading companies that participated in this project. The standards acknowledge that analytics can have a negative as well as a beneficial impact on individuals. Thus, the white paper requires implementation of accountable processes that are tailored to the specific, identified risks of analytics used.
