Big Data: Ethical Debates

‘Big data: Ethical Debates’ describes normative developments, which have been discussed with regards to digital data practices, particularly in research. It depicts tensions between values related to personal rights and those linked to the public good, such as the common opposition between privacy and security. It also shows how transparency and open data relate to (and may conflict with) individuals’ privacy and corporate interests in exclusive data access. Based on an overview of the values, which have been advanced, to justify or critique big data research, the author examines how these relate to current negotiations of research methodologies and normativities. This also involves reflections on entanglements between corporate data economies and research analytics. The main purpose of this chapter is to identify broader developments relevant to the case studies, as well as those values that have been comparatively emphasised or neglected.