Seeing Humans in the Data: Ethical Blind Spots of Taiwan Academic Researchers in the Era of Behavioral Big Data

Abstract

The advent of Behavioral Big Data (BBD) has profoundly impacted research ethics. At the same time, academic disciplines with no experience in human subjects research increasingly make use of BBD datasets. In this first-of-its-kind study, we evaluate Taiwan academic researchers’ knowledge and awareness of data ethics using a series of four BBD-based hypothetical research scenarios. We uncover several data ethics blind spots affecting academic researchers. Through the results of this research we hope to strengthen academic researchers’ data ethics awareness and knowledge in the context of BBD, and provide suggestions for improving the ethics training of academic researchers conducting BBD studies. We also contribute a re-conceptualization of data ethics encompassing both traditional human subjects research ethics and new paradigms for the regulation of personal data, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).