My Digital FootPrint

Who is the “we”, this piece is co-authored by Kaliya Young and me, who together have worked for over 45 years on identity and personal data. For this article, we are looking at the role of values, principles and rules within the industry and sectors seeking to re-define, re-imagine and create ways for people to manage the digital representations of themselves with dignity. As we write this there is an ongoing conversation about the regulation of Facebook and the regulation of big tech in general. We see a problem with the frame of the conversation because we believe ON PRINCIPLE they shouldn’t exist as in no-one entity should have that much power and control over the global population’s identities, “their” data and the conversion we have. So any frame that accepts BIG TECH as acceptable won’t create rules that actually move towards the principle of ending the current hegemony but rather just seek to regulate it as is. W ith this piece, we are seeking to look at how principles change

Developing a Framework In this post, I am going to explore the relationship between power, agency and influence. The intent is to unpack each of these words and their relationships to each other. Power, agency and influence can have a constructive or destructive relationship cycle. We will explore how power, agency and influence in a constructive cycle lead to better outcomes and conversely how power, agency and influence in a destructive cycle lead to worse outcomes. We love the analogy about peeling an onion. We peel back one layer to reveal a new similar layer, each layer enabling us to offer a new idea or thinking and adding complexity. Often we use this model for ourselves to get to our inner core and what values drive us. As we peel back each layer of power, agency and influence, we will find there more complexity and interconnectedness; much we cannot grasp in the context of decision making and governance. As we peel back more layers of interconnections, we will find there are

Data ethics is the integration of ethical thinking with the constraints of data and centres on how to make better decisions that ensures ethical outcomes. Data ethics is a broad topic encapsulating data and ethical decisions, data-based judgement, bias, ethics of collecting and analysing data, and the ethics of automation created by data.   The data we collected in 2010 could paint a low quality, black and white, abstract picture of our world and the data could be used to inform, frame or guide. In 2020, the data collected can describe our world in high-definition colour and is being used to mould, form and shape actions in complicated environments. We are accelerating our collection and use of data.  Boards need to get deep and dirty with data and the ethics of judgement based on data, it is complex and often requires new skills.   Boards are biased towards professionals who represent experience in finance, legal, operations, marketing and sales.  These “core functions” are supported