Civic Tech Field Guide
Sharing knowledge and productively growing the fieldAdjacent Fields > Ethical tech and responsible tech - (202)
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.
Showing 202 Results
This [Canadian] report includes the following: Importance of ethics in AI and government, Understanding the impacts of AI on society, Balancing AI-driven efficiency with privacy and security concerns, and Cyber-security and digital trust.
The Future of Privacy Forum
Washington, DCFPF brings together industry, academics, civil society, policymakers, and other stakeholders to explore the challenges posed by emerging technologies and develop privacy protections, ethical norms, and workable best practices in these areas and more.
We now bring this decade’s worth of insights and our intellectual capital to scale with our automated audits, and proprietary demographic and geographic database used to ensure the validity (and compliance) of the outputs.
Digital Futures Lab is a multidisciplinary research network that examines the complex interactions between technology and society in the global south.
Student Privacy Compass (formerly known as FERPA|Sherpa) is the student privacy resource center website. This site is your tool for finding information, news, and opinions on maintaining student data privacy. Student Privacy Compass is an initiative of the Future of Privacy Forum.
The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) Training Program provides an in-depth understanding of today’s most pressing privacy and data protection topics.
Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP)
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USAThe Center for Information Technology Policy is a nexus of expertise in technology, engineering, public policy, and the social sciences.
Case studies, blog posts, and Airtables with examples
A space for policymakers, tech companies and web users to shape a safer, more empowering web.
Code and other resources to help businesses create more inclusive web forms and collect fewer data in general
Black Tech Agenda and Scorecard
Washington, DCBlack communities need an affirmative vision of technology that protects our civil rights and advances our needs. A campaign nominated for a 2023 Webby Award.
We are a non-profit think/do tank supporting founders and the startup ecosystem in building more equitable, world-positive tech companies.
In an era of corporate surveillance, artificial intelligence, deep fakes, genetic modification, automation, and more, law often seems to take a back seat to rampant technological change.
A Brief but Actionable Primer for Founders
Mozilla AI
Mountain View, CA, USAA startup — and community — building trustworthy and open-source AI.
In this groundbreaking work, Haochen Sun analyzes the ethical crisis unfolding at the intersection of technology and the public interest.
Sharing and Caring EU
EuropeThe main objective of this action is to develop a European network of actors focusing on the development of collaborative economy models and platforms and on social and technological implications of the collaborative economy through a practice focused approach.
Own Your Data Foundation
WyomingWe equip every individual with the tools they need to live a safe, protected, and informed digital life.
What builders in Germany, India, Kenya, and the United States need to know when experimenting with new approaches to data governance
Tech Matters
Palo AltoWe help social change leaders understand what tech can and can’t do, and build the tech solutions behind solving a social problem.
Platform://Democracy
Humboldt-Institut Berlin, Invalidenstraße, Berlin, GermanyThe project "Platform://Democracy: Platform Councils as Tools to Democratize Hybrid Online Orders" examines how the rules of discourse on platforms can be aligned with public values
Responsible Computing Challenge
Mountain View, CA, USAThe Responsible Computing Challenge - supported by the Mellon Foundation, Omidyar Network, Schmidt Futures, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, USAID, Mozilla - fund academic teams that combine faculty and practitioners from Computing, Humanities, Library and Information Science, and Social Science fields in order to reimagine how the next generation of technologists will be educated.
We are identifying the organizations and leaders creating digital community-building platforms that strengthen our democracy.
A 12 hour asynchronous online “base” program to help you launch your practice
Our Slack workspace helps individuals in the Responsible Tech ecosystem connect with one another, discuss research, share events, learn about careers and job opportunities, and more. In addition, we have channels for specific locations to allow for people to collaborate based on vicinity.
deon is a command line tool that allows you to easily add an ethics checklist to your data science projects. We support creating a new, standalone checklist file or appending a checklist to an existing analysis in many common formats.
All Tech Is Human
New York City, NY, USAAll Tech Is Human is strengthening the Responsible Tech ecosystem with multiple stakeholders, disciplines, and perspectives so we can tackle wicked tech & society problems.
Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO)
Washington, DCThe Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), is the world’s first standalone international organization focusing on the digital economy.
Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation UK (CDEI)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)The CDEI is a UK government expert body enabling the trustworthy use of data and AI.
Search 5.8 billion images used to train popular AI art models
The World Ethical Data Forum is the only event in the world that embraces the full range of interrelated issues around the use and future of data.
Our mission is to advance, defend, and sustain the right to ethically study the impact of technology on society.
What is a more ambitious vision for data use and regulation that can deliver a positive shift in the digital ecosystem towards people and society?
European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency
Valencia (Spain)The European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency (ECAT) will contribute to a safer, more predictable and trusted online environment for people and business.
To address ethics and social responsibility in technology, we believe it is important to honor the expertise of many disciplines: anthropology, computer science, critical race and gender studies, data science, design, history, human rights, law, philosophy, political science, science technology & society studies, sociology, and so much more.
Superbloom (formerly Simply Secure)
New York City, NY, USASuperbloom leverages design as a transformative practice to shift power in the tech ecosystem, because everyone deserves technology they can trust.
IASC Operational Guidance on Data Responsibility in Humanitarian Action
The Hague, NetherlandsWhile each organization is responsible for its own data, humanitarians under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) – which brings together United Nations (UN) entities, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) consortia and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – need common normative, system-wide guidance to inform individual and collective action and to uphold a high standard for data responsibility in different operating environments.
Data Responsibility Working Group (DRWG)
The Hague, NetherlandsThe Data Responsibility Working Group (DRWG) is a global coordination body working to advance data responsibility across the humanitarian system.
From biometrics to surveillance — when people in power abuse technology, the rest of us suffer. Written by Ellery Biddle.
Short for “human experience,” HX is an approach to talking about, engaging with, and designing technology in a way that is aligned with our needs as humans — not users.
All Tech Is Human Library Podcast Series
New York City, NY, USAThe All Tech Is Human Library Podcast is a special 16-part series featuring a series of rapid-fire intimate conversations with academics, AI ethicists, activists, entrepreneurs, public interest technologists, and integrity workers, who help us answer: How do we build a responsible tech future?
The fundraising spam is out of control. Here's how that happened — and how we take back our inboxes.
All Tech Is Human has developed this free program in order to help build the Responsible Tech pipeline – by facilitating connections and career development among talented students, career changers, and practitioners.
ParityBOT is a Twitter bot that spins the abuse and toxicity directed at women in politics into positive, uplifting and encouraging messages. The artificial intelligence technology that powers ParityBOT detects and classifies hateful, harmful and toxic tweets directed at women in leadership or public office
Knowing without Seeing is a research project by Amber Sinha which explores meaningful transparency solutions for opaque algorithms, and privileges comprehension over mere access to information.
The mission of the Coalition for Independent Tech Research is to advance, defend, and sustain the right to ethically study the impact of technology on society.
This paper identifies and addresses persistent gaps in the consideration of ethical practice in ‘technology for good’ development contexts.
The Digital Freedom Fund and its partner European Digital Rights (EDRi) are in the second phase of an initiative that emerged to decolonise the digital rights field.
A 2021 report by SimplySecure and The New Design Congress
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