Table 7 Ethical issues identified (n = 218)
Ethical issues identified | Count (%) | |
|---|---|---|
Autonomy | Lack of consent: Data is collected without informed consent | 91 (42%) |
Data agency: People do not have the right to control, access, or delete their data | 50 (23%) | |
Participation: People/communities are not involved in decisions to use of new/experimental technologies for collecting data | 50 (23%) | |
Undisclosed use: Data may be used beyond purposes for which they were collected | 40 (18%) | |
Lack of respect: People/communities are not treated with respect | 37 (17%) | |
Autonomy: Unwillingness to share data does not lead to disadvantages (e.g., exclusion from assistance or protection) | 35 (16%) | |
Lack of group agency: Processed information is not available to affected communities | 8 (4%) | |
Any implication related to Autonomy | 146 (67%) | |
Beneficence | Unreliability: Processed data is inaccurate and does not sufficiently reflect reality to inform assistance | 108 (50%) |
Dependence: Data is processed with the assistance of a political, economic, or military entity | 107 (49%) | |
Non-neutrality: Data is processed in a way that benefits or appears to benefit one side of the conflict over the other | 67 (31%) | |
Ineffective or inefficient: Not producing expected result, unmet expectations | 56 (26%) | |
Lack of action: Processed data is not utilized to inform assistance to the affected person/community | 42 (19%) | |
Any implication related to Beneficence | 191 (88%) | |
Non-maleficence | Privacy: Personal/sensitive data is shared with third parties | 134 (61%) |
Harm: People suffer physical or psychological harm as a result of data processing | 106 (49%) | |
Data security: Personal/sensitive data is not protected against malicious actors | 103 (47%) | |
Power imbalance: Data processing reinforces or worsens a lack of power of affected people | 93 (43%) | |
Excess: More data was collected than necessary | 28 (13%) | |
Redress/rectification: People do not have the ability to correct wrong information about them or receive compensation | 16 (7%) | |
Any implication related to Non-maleficence | 199 (91%) | |
Justice | Bias: Data is processed in a way that may (dis)advantage some people disproportionate to their humanitarian needs | 122 (56%) |
Unequal access to technology / exclusion from data collection | 75 (34%) | |
Lack of accountability: Endangering (or not protecting) rights; absolving responsibility | 52 (24%) | |
Unfair distribution of risks and benefits | 37 (17%) | |
Any implication related to Justice | 174 (80%) | |