Civic Tech Field Guide
Sharing knowledge and productively growing the fieldAdjacent Fields > Ethical tech and responsible tech - (171)
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 171 Results
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-anticipate and unwelcome consequences are most likely to emerge.
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 discrimination within algorithms now prevalent across all spheres of daily life.
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.
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 improve access to opportunity for historically underserved and disadvantaged communities.
Permission Slip
Yonkers, NY, USAOne app to take back control of your data
This list of resources is curated and maintained by MERL Tech and The Engine Room.
How The New York Times Thinks About Your Privacy
New York Times Building, 8th Avenue, New York, NY, USAA guide to the news company's data usage
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.
A Popular Science piece with key takeaways educational section
Celebrating purpose & mission-driven work from people, companies and organizations worldwide.
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
Harvard Democracy and Internet Governance Initiative (DIGI)
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USAThrough 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 legislative reform proposals and platform self-governance options.
*privacy not included
Mountain View, CA, USAMozilla Foundation's annual naughty and nice list of consumer tech's privacy policies
Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA)
New York, NYThe Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA) helps survivors of intimate partner violence end tech-related abuse.
The Distributed AI Research Institute is a space for independent, community-rooted AI research free from Big Tech’s pervasive influence.
A set of guidelines that help development practitioners integrate established best practices into technology-enabled programmes.
Block Party app
United States of America (the)Consumer tools for online safety & anti-harassment. Automatically hide unwanted tweets & mute the trolls (review later, but only if you want!).
We are a community of integrity professionals—the people who build platforms to be better.
Just Tech Fellowship
United States of America (the)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 representative technological futures.
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.
The ODI's white paper on ethical data policies
Journal of Online Trust and Safety
Stanford University, Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, USAThe Journal of Online Trust and Safety is a cross-disciplinary, open access, fast peer-review journal that publishes research on how consumer internet services are abused to cause harm and how to prevent those harms.
The Tech Worker Handbook is a collection of resources for tech workers who are looking to make more informed decisions about whether to speak out on issues that are in the public interest. Aiming to improve working conditions, direct attention to consumer harms, or otherwise address wrongdoing and abuse should not be a solo or poorly resourced endeavor.
World Bank Data for Better Lives report
Washington, DCCovering data for social good, data governance, and societal-level data considerations
Co-op Foundation
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)The Co-op Foundation helps disadvantaged communities overcome their challenges by putting co-operative values into practice. It aims to stimulate and strengthen community action that connects and empowers people so they can work together to make things better.
JAAKLAC initiative
FinlandReseaching and advocating for critical digital education and youth participation from Latin America and the Majority World
Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor, by Virginia Eubanks
A powerful investigative look at data-based discrimination—and how technology affects civil and human rights and economic equity
From a cutting-edge cultural commentator, a bold and brilliant challenge to cherished notions of the Internet as the great leveler of our age The Internet has been hailed as an unprecedented democratizing force
The Markup
New York, NYWe are a new publication illuminating how powerful institutions are using technology in ways that impact people and society.
Speak Out Tech
Worcester, MAWhat if Tech said
The Fairwork Foundation is a project that is working to set and measure standards in the platform economy.
Racial literacy is a new method for addressing the racially disparate impacts of technology.
The Center for Humane Technology is a world-class team of former tech insiders and CEOs who are advancing thoughtful solutions to change the culture, business incentives, design techniques, and organizational structures driving how technology hijacks our brains.
Up & Go
443 39th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232, United StatesHome cleaning in NYC you can feel great about
PeaceTech Living Learning Community
Waterloo, ON, CanadaExploring the intersection of peace-building and technology—critically reflecting on the social impact of technology and fostering the creation of “tech for good.”
Ethics In Tech
Bay Area, CA, USAEthics In Technology works towards increased awareness around the ethical use of technology and seeks to make a positive impact through engaging the public at all levels of our society in conversation about these issues.
By Joi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab
European AI & Society Fund
Rue Royale 941000, Brussels, BelgiumThe European AI Fund is a philanthropic initiative to shape the direction of AI in Europe. Our long-term vision is to promote an ecosystem of European public interest and civil society organisations working on policy and technology, based on a diversity of actors and a plurality of goals that represents society as a whole.
Data Justice Lab
Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UKThe Data Justice Lab examines the intricate relationship between datafication and social justice, highlighting the politics and impacts of data-driven processes and big data
Based in marginalized neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina, Detroit, Michigan, and Los Angeles, California, we look at digital data collection and our human rights, work with local communities, community organizations, and social support networks, and show how different data systems impact re-entry, fair housing, public assistance, and community development.
The Cleaners
Boxhagener Str. 106, 10245 Berlin, GermanyIt tells of the global impact of online censorship and shows how fake news and hatred are disseminated and strengthened by the social networks.
The RD community is a place for those who use data in social change and advocacy to develop practical approaches to addressing the ethical, legal, social and privacy-related challenges they face.
The aim of this document is to provide a running record of ‘data harms’, harms that have been caused by uses of big data. The goal is to document and learn from where things have gone wrong.
Ranking Digital Rights
740 15th Street, N.W., Suite 900 Washington, DC 20005Ranking ICT sector companies on respect for free expression and privacy
Darcy will allow everyone to run their own federated social media instance – without having to worry about technology, moderation or legal compliance, because Darcy will take care of that for you – if you want!
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Civic Tech Field Guide