11.2.1. Individual vs. Systemic Analysis [k2]# Individual analysis focuses on the behavior, bias, and responsibility an individual has, while systemic analysis focuses on the how organizations and rules may have their own behaviors, biases, and responsibility that aren’t necessarily connected to what any individual inside intends. For example, there were differences in US criminal sentencing guidelines between crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine in the 90s. The guidelines suggested harsher sentences on the version of cocaine more commonly used by Black people, and lighter sentences on the version of cocaine more commonly used by white people. Therefore, when these guidelines were followed, they had have racially biased (that is, racist) outcomes regardless of intent or bias of the individual judges. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Sentencing_Act) [k3].

Neurodiversity. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1187185735. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neurodiversity&oldid=1187185735#Neurotypical (visited on 2023-12-07).

General Data Protection Regulation. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1187294017. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=General_Data_Protection_Regulation&oldid=1187294017 (visited on 2023-12-05).

For example, a social media application might offer us a way of “Private Messaging” [i1] (also called Direct Messaging) with another user. But in most cases those “private” messages are stored in the computers at those companies, and the company might have computer programs that automatically search through the messages, and people with the right permissions might be able to view them directly.

Jordan Pearson. Your Friends’ Online Connections Can Reveal Your Sexual Orientation. Vice, September 2014. URL: https://www.vice.com/en/article/gvydky/your-friends-online-connections-can-reveal-your-sexual-orientation (visited on 2023-12-05).

Social media data can also be used to infer information about larger social trends like the spread of misinformation [h10].

Mark R. Cheathem. Conspiracy Theories Abounded in 19th-Century American Politics. URL: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/conspiracy-theories-abounded-19th-century-american-politics-180971940/ (visited on 2023-11-24).

One difference you may notice with different social media sites is in how you form connections with others. Some social media sites don’t have any formal connections. Like two users who happen to be on the same bulletin board. Some social media sites only allow reciprocal connections, like being “friends” on Facebook Some social media sites offer one-way connections, like following someone on Twitter or subscribing to a YouTube channel.

Ethics of Choosing Data Representation

All models are wrong. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1183166756. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=All_models_are_wrong&oldid=1183166756 (visited on 2023-11-24).

Buy TikTok Followers. 2023. URL: https://www.socialwick.com (visited on 2023-12-02).

Though we might consider these to be run by “human computers” who are following the instructions given to them, such as in a click farm:

Scenario: A Parent With Alzheimer’s# Suppose you are in the position of needing to decide what to do to care for a parent. Although they are used to an active and independent life, it is clear that they have been showing signs of worsening, early stages Alzheimer’s [b80]. You believe they are no longer able to safely live on their own, but they get upset at the suggestion that they might need help. You have two options. Either you can intervene, by ignoring your parent’s wishes and securing a professional carer or care home to support them, or you can choose not to intervene, hoping that they will finally realize they need care. You have consulted with your siblings, and they left the final decision to you. The cost of professional care will come out of your parent’s financial reserves (they can afford it), but you will need to spend their money for them against their will. You don’t know what to do, so you sit down and work through your options with a list of ethical frameworks.

Kantianism: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.” Meaning: only follow rules that you are ok with everyone else following. For example, you might conclude that it is wrong to lie no matter what the consequences are. Kant certainly thought so, but many have disagreed with him. Deontological thinking comes out of the same era as Natural Rights thinking, and they are rooted in similar assumptions about the world. Deontology is often associated with Kant, because at that time, he gave us one of the first systematic, or comprehensive, interpretations of those ideas in a fully-fledged ethical framework. But deontological ethics does not need to be based on Kant’s ethics, and many ethicists working in the deontological tradition have suggested that reasoning about the objective reality should lead us to derive different sets of principles.