An ethical canvas for online experiments
Data
Ownership & Rights:
- Transparency about data is necessary.
- The owner of the data must have approval to use the data.
Privacy & Security
- The privacy and anonymity of users must be guaranteed.
- No more data may be collected than necessary.
Transparency
- People must be able to easily identify the purposes for which their data is being collected.
- People must have the opportunity to be excluded from online experiments.
Limitations
- It must be clear what the characteristics and shortcomings of the data are.
- The characteristics and shortcomings of the data must be known to everyone who works with it and must be included in reliability calculations.
Experiments
Tools & Statistics
- The experimentation tools and statistics must guarantee reliable results.
- A quality program must be in place that clarifies, analyzes and improves possible limitations.
Experimentation skilIs
- To guarantee reliable analysis and conclusions. The people who perform the experiments must have the right skills and knowledge of experimental design, data analysis and statistics.
Cost-benefit
- A go/no go decision must be made prior to each experiment by weighing the potential benefits against the potential disadvantages.
Welfare measurements
- An ‘evaluation criteria’ for human well-being must be defined.
- The experiments must be able to be analyzed on the basis of their impact on these evaluation criteria.
Application
Behavioral knowledge
- The people conducting the experiments must have enough experience and knowledge of behavioral sciences to analyze and draw conclusions about the possible pros and cons for human well-being.
Extensive analysis
- The possible effects on human well-being must always be thoroughly analyzed and evaluated.
Minimizing disadvantages
- The evaluation criteria for the well-being of people must outweigh the criteria aimed at the well-being of the company.
Communication
- People must be able to rely on or submit a request to make changes to the company’s service.