Data ethics may be a relatively new field, but its underlying principles are nothing new. Currently, regulations on data ethics are lacking, but organizations are still making data ethics a priority. Ethical data management is a must in today's data-driven world. 

In this episode, Anna Hannem, the director of Data Ethics & Use at Scotiabank, joins us to discuss the importance of data ethics, the best practices to ensure the ethical use of data across your organization, and her insights on the growing field of data ethics.

Tune in to the episode if you want to know how you could integrate data ethics as part of your company’s culture.

Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:

1. Find out why Scotiabank puts a premium on data ethics.
2. Learn how Scotiabank effectively implements data ethics within its organization.
3. Discover how the field of ethical data management is growing and where it will be in a few years.

Resources

• Connect with Anna over at LinkedIn

Episode Highlights

[02:14] The Significance of Data Ethics

• Scotiabank's focus on data ethics started only a couple of years ago. The concept of ethical data management isn't new, but the field or profession is.
• Our world has become virtual and digital, making it data-driven. We can now feel the vast implications and impact when organizations use our data.
• Many big companies made mistakes that weren't necessarily illegal or had malicious intent but still led to breaching customer trust.
• Scotiabank is committed to upholding customer and public trust through data ethics.

[04:48] How Scotiabank Practices Data Ethics

• Scotiabank instills data ethics principles into its culture, processes, and procedures to educate within the organization and the industry as a whole.

Anna: “But in fact, data isn't black and white, right? It's how we collect it, where we collect it from, and how we're intending to use it.”

• Scotiabank implements an ethics assistant, an AI-powered tool that guides its model developers by giving insights on the proper use of data.
• In the US, some financial organizations negatively impact minority populations. The algorithm may be the problem despite bias, diversity, and discrimination training.
• The analytics team should be able to work with the business team, who then makes sure the customers are on the same page on what went into the algorithm for the unwanted outcome to happen.
• Scotiabank is guided by its main ethical principles of being fair, transparent, and striving to safeguard customer data. They treat accountability seriously.

[16:56] Developments in Scotiabank’s Data Management and Ethics

• Even without regulations on data ethics in North America, people are receptive to the processes and tools to instill data ethics.
• Anna observes that people are open to doing extra work to do what's ethical when it comes to customer data. 
• Make processes for data ethics easier so that people are inclined to do it repeatedly. 
• Data ethics started in Scotiabank’s Chief Data and Analytics Office before being implemented in other parts of the organization.
• Anna wished they already knew other areas that could have benefitted from their processes and implemented them there sooner for faster scalability.

[22:06] The New But Growing Space of Data Ethics

• There's no degree yet for purely data ethics, but some universities offer it as part of their data analytics course.
• Scotiabank is partnering with universities to help them build programs on data ethics.

Anna: “There are not that many thought leaders yet in this space, and so as regulations are coming, we want to be influencing that, and we want to already be ahead of some of these curves and instilling best practices and learning from them ahead of time so [we know what worked well and what didn’t].”

Jay: “What's the safest way, the best way, the most appropriate way to drive value? And then it becomes an enabling thing as opposed to an obstacle or a barrier to progress.”

• Anna envisions more automation in data ethics and improving their ethics assistant tool to assist their model developers more easily.

About Anna

Anna Hannem is the director of Data Ethics & Use at Scotiabank. She has been in the field for over ten years with experience in data management, governance, and analytics. She sees data ethics as the intersection of her many passions. She also has a degree in behavioral psychology, which she treats as an asset and influences her decisions in data ethics.

If you want to reach out, feel free to contact Anna via LinkedIn.

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Have any questions? You can connect with me on LinkedIn. 

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