Ethics, Fairness, Responsibility, and Privacy in Data Science

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course takes a technical approach to exploring societal issues of ethics, fairness, responsibility, and privacy related to the collection, use, and generalization of data. The course introduces fundamental techniques related to data acquisition, data cleaning, sampling, statistical modeling, experimental design, feature engineering, and modeling with machine learning. It then explores the problems that arise in different ways of performing those tasks, the fairness and bias of machine learning models, data visualizations, and user interfaces. In addition, the course covers anonymization and deanonymization, conceptions of privacy from a number of perspectives (statistical, legal, and philosophical), and compliance with contractual or legal requirements around data. The course concludes by discussing current controversies around the use and misuse of data. Through both programming assignments and discussions, students who complete the course will learn how to design systems that are inclusive and respectful of all data subjects.