Ethical tech and responsible tech
While the first generations of tech-for-good work took a solutionist approach to addressing existing problems with new technology, scholars and activists are driving growing awareness of the problems with technology itself. By exposing the negative consequences, intended or otherwise, of tech, these communities draw attention to issues with tech-centric approaches. Not all of the projects here adopt an ethics lens in their work, but we use it here for simplicity's sake.
Suggested reading:
- 10 things we should all demand from Big Tech right now, Vox (2019)
- Technology Ethics in Action: Critical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by Ben Green.
Lighthouse Reports
Pioneering Collaborative Journalism
Indigenous data sovereignty
Policy decisions on and resource allocations for IEM tend to be made with inadequate data. The focus of the IDS programme is to coordinate a transboundary effort to develop indigenous data with indige...
Prosocial Design Network
A library of design interventions to encourage prosocial behaviors online
Civics of Technology
The Civics of Technology Project shares research and curriculum and offers professional development that encourages teachers and students to critically inquire into the effects of technology on our in...
What the Future Wants
What the Future Wants is an interactive youth focused exhibition that presents different perspectives on technology from the personal, to the political, to the planetary.
Voluntary Code of Ethics - India 2019 Election
Prior to 2019 elections, the Election Commission of India was able to convene representatives from top social media companies for a two-day brainstorming session on approaches to problematic social me...
The Santa Clara Principles On Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation
The Santa Clara Principles On Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation cover various aspects of content moderation, developed by legal scholars and technologists based mostly in the Unite...
Take Back the Tech
Take Back The Tech! is a call to everyone, especially women and girls, to take control of technology to end violence against women.
Facebook Digital Literacy Library
The Facebook Digital Literacy Library is hosted by Facebook and currently includes learning resources made available by Youth and Media at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Un...
Argentina's Ethical Digital Commitment
"Pledge signed by political parties and technology/social network companies committing to avoiding fake news and mechanisms of disinformation that may affect upcoming elections." - Countering Disinfo
Mnemonic
Mnemonic is an NGO dedicated to archiving, investigating and memorializing digital information documenting human rights violations and international crimes.
What Builders Struggle With While Innovating With Data Governance
Mozilla Foundation survey of builders' perceptions of data governance
10 Principles for Workers' Data Rights
UNI Global Union's Top Ten Principles for Workers' Data Rights fills an enormous gap with regards workers' rights in the new world of work.
Ethical OS Risk Mitigation Manual
Most tech is designed with the best intentions. But once a product is released and reaches scale, all bets are off. The Risk Mitigation Manual presents eight risk zones where we believe hard-to-antici...
Judgment Call
Judgment Call is an award-winning game and team-based activity that puts Microsoft’s AI principles of fairness, privacy and security, reliability and safety, transparency, inclusion, and accountabilit...
Digital Life Initiative at Cornell Tech
We explore societal perspectives surrounding the development and application of digital technology, focusing on ethics, policy, politics, and quality of life. 2017
Digital Lab Fellowship at Consumer Reports
The Digital Lab Fellowship is a paid, non-resident opportunity to uncover and address emerging consumer harms in the digital world
Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure
We’re imagining, studying, and building public spaces and public goods on the internet.
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP)
S.T.O.P. at NYU fights to end discriminatory surveillance.
Coded Bias
Coded Bias follows M.I.T. Media Lab computer scientist Joy Buolamwini, along with data scientists, mathematicians, and watchdog groups from all over the world, as they fight to expose the discriminati...
Dark Patterns Tipline
Report a dark pattern today. It will help us fight back against companies usingmanipulative dark patterns to take our private information, money, andtime. You deserve respect, online and off.
Reset Australia
The unregulated attention economy driving social media is fraying our democracy, threatening our mental and physical health, and exposing our children to violent and disturbing content.
Where in the World is AI? Responsible & Unethical AI Examples
Everyone is talking about AI, but how and where is it actually being used? We've mapped out interesting examples where AI has been harmful and where it's been helpful.
Reset.tech
We want to change the way the internet enables the spread of news and information so it serves the public good over corporate and political interests.
AI Ethics: Global Perspectives
GovLab NYU's Collection of Lectures on the Ethical implications of Data and Artificial Intelligence from Different Perspectives
Access Now
Access Now defends and extends the digital rights of people and communities at risk. By combining direct technical support, strategic advocacy, grassroots grantmaking, and convenings such as RightsCon...
My Data Rights
A feminist review of AI, privacy and data protection to enhance digital rights
PIT Lab @Stanford
The PIT Lab is building a thoughtful community around public interest technology at Stanford. Themes include systemic inequities, democratic values, bridging the divide, career pathways.
Dark Patterns at Scale: Findings from a Crawl of 11K Shopping Websites
Adding additional products to users’ shopping carts without their consent.
Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA)
DEDA helps data analysts, project managers and policy makers to recognize ethical issues in data projects, data management and data policies.
New_ Public
New_ Public: a magazine, a newsletter, and a community for better digital spaces. It's a home for the people who are building a community-serving, public-spirited tech future.
Mechanism Design for Social Good
Mechanism Design for Social Good (MD4SG) is a multi-institutional initiative using techniques from algorithms, optimization, and mechanism design, along with insights from other disciplines, to improv...
Permission Slip
One app to take back control of your data
How The New York Times Thinks About Your Privacy
A guide to the news company's data usage
Responsible Data Resource List
This list of resources is curated and maintained by MERL Tech and The Engine Room.
Feminist AI
Feminist.AI works to put technology into the hands of makers, researchers, thinkers and learners to amplify unheard voices and create more accessible AI for all.
'Shared Data,' a short story from an alternate future
A Popular Science piece with key takeaways educational section
Anthem Awards's Responsible Tech categories
Celebrating purpose & mission-driven work from people, companies and organizations worldwide.
AI Ethics Guidelines Global Inventory
A project by AlgorithmWatch that maps frameworks that seek to set out principles of how systems for automated decision-making (ADM) can be developed and implemented ethically
The Digital Public Sphere White Paper Series
Harvard Democracy and Internet Governance Initiative (DIGI)
Through public reports and briefings with policymakers, business leaders, and civil society organizations, the Initiative will highlight digital platform reform options, as well as offer expertise on...
*privacy not included
Mozilla Foundation's annual naughty and nice list of consumer tech's privacy policies
Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA)
The Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA) helps survivors of intimate partner violence end tech-related abuse.
Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)
The Distributed AI Research Institute is a space for independent, community-rooted AI research free from Big Tech’s pervasive influence.
Principles for Digital Development
A set of guidelines that help development practitioners integrate established best practices into technology-enabled programmes.
Block Party app
Consumer tools for online safety & anti-harassment. Automatically hide unwanted tweets & mute the trolls (review later, but only if you want!).
Integrity Institute
We are a community of integrity professionals—the people who build platforms to be better.
Just Tech Fellowship
The Social Science Research Council's Just Tech Fellowship supports and mobilizes diverse and cross-sector cohorts of researchers and practitioners to imagine and create more just, equitable, and repr...
Privacy Principles for Mobility Data
The Privacy Principles for Mobility Data are a set of values and priorities intended to guide the mobility ecosystem in the responsible use of data and the protection of individual privacy.
Helping organisations navigate ethical concerns in their data practices
The ODI's white paper on ethical data policies