A Code of Ethics for Data Science by DJ Patil. (Former U.S. Chief Data Scientist)
From the post:
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With the old adage that with great power comes great responsibility, it’s time for the data science community to take a leadership role in defining right from wrong. Much like the Hippocratic Oath defines Do No Harm for the medical profession, the data science community must have a set of principles to guide and hold each other accountable as data science professionals. To collectively understand the difference between helpful and harmful. To guide and push each other in putting responsible behaviors into practice. And to help empower the masses rather than to disenfranchise them. Data is such an incredible lever arm for change, we need to make sure that the change that is coming, is the one we all want to see.So how do we do it? First, there is no single voice that determines these choices. This MUST be community effort. Data Science is a team sport and we’ve got to decide what kind of team we want to be.
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Consider the specifics of Patil’s regime (2015-2017), when government data scientists:
- Mined information on U.S. citizens. (check)
- Mined information on non-U.S. citizens. (check)
- Hackd computer systems of both citizens and non-citizens. (check)
- Spread disinformation both domestically and abroad. (check)
Unless you want to resurrect George “Machine Gun” Kelly to be your banking commissioner, Patil is a poor choice to lead a charge on ethics.
Despite violations of U.S. law during his tenure as U.S. Chief Data Scientist, Patil was responsible for NO prosecutions, investigations or even whistle-blowing on a single government data scientist.
Patil’s lemming traits come to the fore when he says:
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And finally, our democratic systems have been under attack using our very own data to incite hate and sow discord.
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Patil ignores two very critical aspects of that claim:
- There has been no, repeat no forensic evidence released to support that claim. All that supports it are claims by people who claim to have seen something, but they can’t say what.
- The United States (that would be us), has tried to overthrow governments seventy-two times during the Cold War. Sometimes the U.S. has succeeded. Posts on Twitter and Facebook pale by comparison.
Don’t mistake Patil’s use of the term “ethics” as meaning what you mean by “ethics.” Based on his prior record and his post, you can guess that Patil’s “ethics” gives a wide berth to abusive governments and corporations.