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During this workshop on 8 October at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, Richard Novák – former Director ICT customer solutions at T-Mobile Czech Republic and Slovakia and currently in a sabbatical year – discussed his research on ethical issues relation to big data in the telecommunication sector.

In his presentation, Mr. Novák firstly described the context of the telecommunication sector, in which currently five major players are active and which has a big influence on all other industries, e.g. by their importance in critical state infrastructure and the (emotional) dependence of citizens upon technologies offered by telecommunication companies.

Data gathered by telecommunication companies, for example Event Data Records and CRM data, can be used for several purposes such as credit scoring, offering of location based services, public administration and targeting based on consumer habits. Because of European data protection legislation, the most important piece of which currently is the General Data Protection Regulation, anonymization of personal data is crucial. In case data are not anonymized, consent for their processing is required.

In his research, Mr. Novák identifies from an ethical perspective both positive aspects and negative aspects of the use of big data. Positive aspects concern inter alia the fact that big data offer better insights in complex problems and that they create the possibility to make targeted and personal offers. Negative consequence of the use of big data are among others the possible implications for individuals’ privacy and inequality as a result of the new digital divide. In his research, Mr. Novák focuses primarily on the tension between equality and the new digital divide.

The last part of the workshop focused on methodological issues, such as the role of surveys, potential difference in views in Eastern and Western Europe and the use of the Data Ethics Decision Aid in the commercial sector.

The workshop was part of the project Disrupting Technological Innovation? Towards an ethical and legal framework for technological Innovation.