Two years of Ethics commission at CorrelAid

CorrelAid has always paid great attention to ethical matters. From its foundation in 2015, CorrelAid defined its values and followed them strictly ever since. CorrelAid then solidified these values in a Code of Ethics and subsequently developed a Code of Conduct as well. In March 2022, CorrelAid went one step further and elected five volunteers to start the CorrelAid ethics commission – the working group that reviews CorrelAid’s activities with regard to general ethical values and becomes active upon request.

It goes without saying that most of the CorrelAid projects and activities align with the general ethical values: nonprofits usually work for public and social good, and helping nonprofits with their data indirectly supports their goals. So why create a dedicated ethics commission?

Data4Good projects evaluation

When dealing with data, the devil is in the details. Inappropriate use of sensitive data or machine learning models can be harmful even when applied with good intentions. At the same time, it is difficult, especially for non-data-experts, to know all the pitfalls of dealing with data. Therefore, one of the tasks of the ethics commission is to evaluate the questionable Data4Good projects for potential risks with regard to ethical values, data privacy, as well as general CorrelAid values and principles.

Over the past two years, we evaluated five projects that raised questions about anonymizing data, the possibility of using available data for project purposes, unexpected negative effects of the project opposite to the project goals, handling sensitive data such as medical data, etc. Based on our evaluation, we provided recommendations on whether to start a new project or continue an existing collaboration and, if yes, on points to keep in mind during the project.

To facilitate such reviews, we came up with a questionnaire and a companion document that aims to help project initiators to analyze their concerns as well as potential issues they might not have been aware of. While the questionnaire checks whether the project might encounter issues, the companion document helps to understand what potential issues can be. And of course, the ethics commission is always available for a discussion of the concerns not covered in the questionnaire and the companion document. 

Now that CorrelAid has set up the Data Privacy team dedicated to data privacy issues, the ethics commission can focus even more on ethical issues. However, both teams will stay in a close collaboration.

Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics maintenance

Another important task of the ethics commission is to maintain and update two important documents defining CorrelAid’s core values –  the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics. During the last year, the ethics commission carried out a major revision of these documents. Following the inclusive and democratic nature of CorrelAid, the ethics commission encouraged not only other CorrelAid teams but the whole CorrelAid network to propose their suggestions and objections. After the final careful review, the revised documents will be voted upon by the General Assembly.

Almost two years of Ethics commission

The ethics commission has been in place for almost two years now. During this time, we evaluated several Data4Good projects and other requests, revised the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics, visited several CorrelAid events, collaborated with other CorrelAid teams like the CommUnity team and Data Privacy team, got to know amazing people in the network, learnt a lot about data privacy and ethics, and established processes and an infrastructure that can be reused by future ethics commission.

Join the Ethics commission

Speaking of the future ethics commission! The ethics commission members are elected for one year and can be reelected once for another term. In December 2023, CorrelAid will elect the new ethics commission members and is actively looking for the candidates already now.

Do you believe data science should be applied responsibly? Are you interested in learning more about data privacy, data and AI ethics? Do you want to support CorrelAid in its goal to comply with general ethical values and maintain its Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct? Are you interested in how CorrelAid works from inside and are ready to commit 2-6 hours per month? Then consider joining the ethics commission! Contact us via ethics@correlaid.org or via the #ask-the-ethics-committee Slack channel. We‘re happy to tell you more and show you how we work.