Hazard: Lacks Informed Consent#

A red diamond shaped outline (like a warning sign) containing a magnifying glass hovering over a cross on a piece of paper.

Description#

This hazard applies to datasets or algorithms that use data which has not been provided with the explicit consent of the data owner/creator. This data often lacks other contextual information which can also make it difficult to understand how the dataset may be biased.

Examples#

Example 1: Large public social media datasets rarely collect informed consent from ‘participants’.

Example 2: Data linkage projects tend not to involve informed consent.

Safety Precautions#

Being clear about the limitations of any ground truth inferences made from the data.
Systems built solely with this type of data should not be applied in practice.