Track: Ethics in Computing

10:35am - 11:25am

Privacy Ethics – A Big Data Problem

Onslaught of Big Data coupled with rapid technological changes/innovations has resulted in numerous Privacy violations. This talk broadly covers best practices with respect to Data Management aspects from mapping your Enterprise data to applying Data Protection rules like GDPR at petabyte scale. In addition, the talk also covers some of the “Privacy by design” methodologies to maintain good privacy hygiene.

11:50am - 12:40pm

Data, GDPR & Privacy: Doing It "Right" Without Losing It All

We all know someone (or maybe you're that person) that tries to live off the data grid as much as possible. They don't participate in grocery store rewards programs; ad blockers are turned on; cookies disabled; they wouldn't be caught dead on social media. They value their data to an extreme... and it's not hard to understand why. 

Finding a news story these days where some organization's customer data has been breached (looking at you Equifax, Target, Home Depot, Uber....) is as easy as checking out google news.  Even worse there are the companies who haven't been breached, they just actively allow your data to be actively mined and used for purposes you were never aware of (Hey, Facebook). These breaches and intrusions into individuals personal information cause real harm, lead to a great deal of mistrust by consumers, and impact the ability for corporate citizens with positive intentions to innovate and drive value to the same individuals. 

At the same time that data breaches and privacy intrusions are popping up at an uncomfortable rate, the technology space for collecting, categorizing, visualizing, and targeting data is growing even more rapidly. Look at nearly any technology, marketing, product, or customer success focused conference and you're sure to see sessions, if not a full track, dedicated to the all encompassing big data story.  Looking at one specific industry, such as the world of email, data is leveraged to inform what to send, to whom, and when. The thought of stripping away access to these fundamental insights seems terrifying to companies who are constantly looking for a way to increase engagement and conversion.  So what are companies to do? How do you mesh the desire and ability to leverage an abundance of valuable insights, with the resonsibility to do so in a careful and permitted way?

In this talk we'll journey through the world of data at our fingertips; the privacy concerns and subsequent regulations that come with so much information; and, how to operate a business that does both the "Right" thing for the consumer, whithout impact the ability to innovate, personalize, and grow.

1:40pm - 2:30pm

Ethics in Computing Panel

Ethics in software today is a hot topic. Join us for a panel of the speakers in the Ethics track while we discuss the important points around privacy, security, safety online, and intent of software today.

2:55pm - 3:45pm

Organizing for Your Ethical Principles

Our job as engineers does not stop with eliminating technical defects and ensuring high reliability. Engineers of all kinds must ensure their work serves the public good. A service that reliably harms, exacerbates injustices, or excludes marginalized groups is not a service worth building and maintaining. 

Learn how to effectively accomplish change in your working conditions or your employer's products through grassroots employee advocacy.

4:10pm - 5:00pm

Spurring The Ethical Imagination

How can individuals incorporate ethical decision-making and identify ethical dilemmas in their work with data? Whether you are a developer, data scientist, program manager, or leader of an organization, come to this workshop to explore your ethical imagination around data use. If you’re writing reports, creating models, scrubbing data sets, or using data from other providers, this workshop will give you tools to think more responsibly about your data practices.

5:25pm - 6:15pm

Ethics in Computing, From Academia to Industry

Thinking about ethics and social responsibility should begin in academia and continue through industry. We learn to build and write scalable, efficient, clean algorithms and code that impact millions. We learn to optimize our data systems. When we get to industry, we continue this trend. Our performance reviews also reflect what we learn in academia. The ethics, social responsibility, and long-term impacts of our products are often not as widely considered. We also often work in engineering silos, occasionally pulling in other deeply human disciplines as thought partners on how our products affect humanity. Come to learn and discuss actions being taken in academia and industry today, and hear about actionable paths forward to create cultures that build more responsible software and services for all people.