The Data Ethics Canvas is designed to help identify potential ethical issues associated with a data project or activity. It promotes understanding and debate around the foundation, intention and potential impact of any piece of work, and helps identify the steps needed to act ethically.

What is the Data Ethics Canvas?

The Data Ethics Canvas is a tool for anyone who collects, shares or uses data. It helps identify and manage ethical issues – at the start of a project that uses data, and throughout. It encourages you to ask important questions about projects that use data, and reflect on the responses. These might be:

• What is your primary purpose for using data in this project?
• Who could be negatively affected by this project? The Data Ethics Canvas provides a framework to develop ethical guidance that suits any context, whatever the project’s size or scope.